The Reason Why WWE Scrapped the Idea of Damian Priest Attacking Roman Reigns on SmackDown

WWE fans are eagerly awaiting the main-roster debut of NXT star Rhea Ripley, but we were about to see another big NXT name make his main roster debut last week. This name was none other than Damian Priest. 

While this may be out of context, Priest was supposed to show up on SmackDown and get the immediate push as being the ‘best friend’ of Kevin Owens.

In a comment on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed the truth behind Priest’s SmackDown debut and how the idea came up.

“They had decided this idea that we need to make stars on SmackDown…we need new babyface stars,” said Meltzer. “So it’s kind of like somebody asked who can be the next new babyface in NXT that can come on the main roster and the guy was Damian Priest.”

Needless to say, we didn’t see Priest and instead saw more of Kevin Owens vs Roman Reigns. Apparently, the idea of Priest’s SmackDown debut was scrapped at the last minute when the Superstar was already backstage, ready for his debut! 

Damian Priest was supposed to debut as Kevin Owens’ best friend

“So they had a story where it was supposed to be Damian Priest was Kevin Owens’ best friend and he’s helping him against Roman Reigns and Jey Uso,” explained Meltzer. 

“In fact, they were going to do a tag match on the show Friday night and Damian Priest is there and ready and all that and Kevin Owens said essentially that it makes no sense for him to be my best friend. 

“What do we have in common, why would he be my best friend, we can do it but why is he my best friend? So Roman Reigns agreed and since it’s Roman Reigns, it was nixed. I don’t know where Heyman stood on it but it was nixed,” said Meltzer. 

According to Meltzer, we may see Priest debut on Raw in the next few episodes. However, this is also subject to change since WWE has made a lot of last-minute switches over the past few weeks.