Damian Priest Recalls Randy Orton's Comments To Bad Bunny Before WrestleMania
In an interview with Steve Muehlhausen of DAZN, WWE's Damian Priest discussed his WrestlemMania 37 tag team partner Bad Bunny. Priest lauded over the work the rap superstar put into getting ready for the show and how Priest was involved from the word go.
"We started working out because I trained with him from the get-go," Priest revealed. "Every time he was in the ring, I was with him and others like Norman Smiley, Adam Pearce, Drew Gulak, Brian Kendrick. Other hands helped his training and getting him ready. But I was there the entire way—every single time. We got in the ring before the Royal Rumble. I worked with him to get that crossbody. We all made sure that he was ready for every little step. He put in work at the PC. He also put in work before Raw. Sometimes we'd have to go to Tampa and put in work before Smackdown.
"We didn't have to be there, but he wanted to put in extra time. He needed extra time. So he'd say, 'Hey, is there any way we can get in the ring?' We had extra rings at the time we were at Tropicana Field. He wanted to get some ring time there. So let's go for two hours, let's drive two hours to spend two hours and then drive two hours back.
"It was all worth it. He had no issue putting in the work. I knew he would surprise a lot of people because though again like you said, nobody expected it. Nobody knew. You hear that he's training. Anybody can train. That doesn't mean you're going to be any good. It doesn't mean you're taking it to the fullest seriously.
Priest continued to praise the work that Bad Bunny put in. Priest discussed Randy Orton approaching him before the show for the respect that he showed the business.
"There's been other celebrities, and they train, but they didn't train to the level he did mentally. He took this very prideful. He didn't want to embarrass himself, the company, his fans, our fans, me, and anybody else in the ring because the first thing he was worried about was earning respect. He didn't want to disrespect anybody.
"He wanted to make sure that people didn't like him just because he was a celebrity here. He wanted to earn the respect of the boys and girls first and then go from there. I remember the Friday before Mania, Randy Orton going up to him and saying, 'Hey, man, I want to say thank you because nobody, I've never seen anybody treat this business the way you have. So thank you for doing that and being so respectful to our stuff'.
"Bad Bunny is a humble dude. He's quiet and shy. He was just like, 'No, no, my pleasure. Thank you for accepting me'. That's who he is. I was so happy that he got to deliver the way. He did shock everyone because he earned it. He really did earn that opportunity and that moment."
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