Damian Priest can’t stay serious around a WWE Superstar despite his best efforts.
Part of one of the top factions on Monday Night Raw, Priest has been very successful in The Judgment Day with two reigns as Tag Team Champion alongside Finn Balor and still in possession of the Money in the Bank briefcase. The next chapter in the group’s story would begin shortly after Survivor Series when R-Truth named himself a member of the group, much to the protest of the other members.
As time went on, Truth’s comedy would become infectious. Confusing Dominik Mysterio with Tom and Nick Mysterio and begging for a hot tag in the Royal Rumble, keeping a straight face around the 54-time 24/7 Champion is virtually impossible. Something that Priest has found out the hard way.
Speaking with Inside The Ropes’ Kenny McIntosh, the Undisputed Tag Team Champion was asked how close Truth has gotten to making him crack. Priest admitted that despite his best efforts, Truth has succeeded:
I think you know the answer to this question, it’s why you’re asking it. He hasn’t gotten close to cracking me. I’ve been cracked. I’m open, I’m scrambled, he got me. It’s unbelievable. I can go in and I know what he’s going to do, I know he’s going to try to do that. I know he’s going to try to break me and make me laugh, that’s what he does.
And no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you’re expecting him to say something it doesn’t matter. You look at his face and in his delivery, it’s impossible to stay serious. I don’t know, maybe some can do it but I’m not one, and I’m usually pretty good at not laughing.
I’m a pretty serious person, especially when I need to be. But that guy, man. He’ll break anybody. I really do believe that and he’s gotten me a few times. I think I can hold my stuff together now. But for a few times, especially when we were starting, I had no chance.
“He’s Gotten Me A Few Times”: Damian Priest On R-Truth Making Him Crack
Priest was then asked about R-Truth’s involvement in the group and his longevity in The Judgment Day. Priest stated that there was no big plan beforehand to include Truth in the group but immediately knew that it could become something special:
It wasn’t even a thing of him being involved. It was just we show up to work, we got our segments to do, whether it’s being backstage with somebody, have a match with somebody, in the ring with somebody will have a match or somebody that’s normal work and that’s all it was.
It was today you’re gonna have an interaction with R-Truth, and we did and then it wasn’t supposed to be anything. But I was like, this is good. Immediately I knew it was good and I said something and then one thing led to another and I don’t think any of us thought it was gonna go this far. I don’t think any of us thought we’d still be interacting. Like I said, it was just one of those things we show up to work and we just got a job to do.
And I thought maybe extend it for one more week, have a match, and that’s it. Here we are, what is it, a couple of months later, R-Truth is still throwing money around. And I think everybody’s having fun with this. The fans, obviously us backstage, everybody’s having a lot of fun with this. And it’s one of those things that happens organically that we’re just this is what we love about the business, the unpredictability of it. And especially when it works in a positive way.
In April 2024, The Undertaker called for R-Truth to get his own spin-off show.
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