Damian Priest’s heel turn on R-Truth wasn’t the original long-term plan. According to a new backstage update, WWE’s decision to break up the duo was heavily influenced by Rhea Ripley’s injury and the company’s changing creative direction.
Speaking during a Q&A session on October 5, TC of WrestleVotes explained that WWE originally wanted to keep the Terror Twins pairing of Priest and Ripley together. However, with Ripley sidelined, creative had to pivot and looked for something else to keep Priest busy.
“I can tell you that his booking was kind of a wait-and-see on where Rhea Ripley was with her injury. They like the Terror Twins a lot, and they wanted to continue the Terror Twins pairing in some form and fashion. As they continued to play the waiting game with her return, it seemed the best thing to do was to put a title on him and Truth and see how far they can go on that.”
According to WrestleVotes, Priest and R-Truth’s run as tag team champions ultimately convinced WWE that Priest had outgrown the act. Rather than continuing the partnership, the decision was made to send him back in the direction that best suited his character.
“They were Tag Team Champions for a few weeks. It felt like, you know what, Damian Priest is more than this tag team with R-Truth. If anything, it’s reducing him rather than improving him.
So how do we go back to where it started? Turning heel. At some point, when Rhea Ripley is back, you can turn Priest back to face and they can be Terror Twins yet again, or maybe they shelved the idea with the prognostication of how Rhea is. But I can tell you, at some point, they wanted to continue the Terror Twins pairing.
She’s put on the shelf, you put him in a tag team with Truth. Alright, that’s as far as we can go with these guys. One’s gonna turn, and it’s gonna be Damian Priest, who is more of a natural heel.”
The update adds a lot of context to Priest’s recent character shift. After turning on R-Truth following their tag title loss, Priest followed it up by brutally attacking his former partner at the WWE Performance Center, making it clear the alliance was over. WWE also began leaning more heavily into Priest’s darker personality and Bronx roots on the September 25 episode of SmackDown, showing that the company is fully committed to his heel character.
Bottom line: It sounds like Priest’s run with R-Truth accomplished exactly what WWE wanted it to. Once the tag team had played out, the company shifted him back into the role they reportedly see as his strongest. Whether that eventually circles back to the Terror Twins is still anyone’s guess.
Do you prefer Damian Priest as a heel or a babyface? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
