Damian Priest Reflects On High-Profile Match, Loss To Gunther At WWE SummerSlam 2024

Damian Priest lost his World Heavyweight Championship to GUNTHER this past Saturday at WWE SummerSlam after Finn Balor purposely cost him the match, helping "The Ring General" pickup his first world title on the main roster. Speaking with "Sports Illustrated," Priest explained why it was important to him to be in a high profile match with GUNTHER at SummerSlam while also comparing himself to other stars on the main roster, stating that he often has to work to be on the same level as the regularly programmed individuals within the company.

"It's inevitable, when you win this belt, the only guarantee is you're going to lose it," Priest said. "But I'm not losing sight of what we accomplished. I'm the world champ walking into SummerSlam, that's crazy. And forget for a moment about everything GUNTHER has said to me and what I've said to him. We're not part of that class of the main guys. We're seen as strong characters on TV, but we're not Seth Rollins, we're not Punk, we're not Drew or Roman. We're not the regularly scheduled programmed guys. AJ, Randy, Finn — we're none of those guys. The fact it was GUNTHER and me in this high-profile world title match, that's big."

Priest has now had time to reflect on his 118-day reign, and he expressed his gratitude for being able to become World Heavyweight Champion. He also promised, however, that his success has not dampened his ambition.

"As much as I accomplished, there's still so much more," Priest said. "My dreams were to wrestle at WrestleMania and win a world title. Now there are new goals. I'm hungrier now than ever."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Sports Illustrated" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.