Why Damian Priest Was Away From WWE RAW

Damian Priest made his return to WWE RAW last night and had reportedly been away due to personal reasons.

Last night's RAW saw Priest compete in the opening Battle Royal. He later appeared for a backstage segment with Riddle. This was his first match since defeating John Morrison in the Lumberjack Match on the May 17 RAW, which came one night after his Zombie Lumberjack Match win over The Miz at the WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view.

In an update, PWInsider reports that Priest was away from TV while he dealt with some personal matters.

It was reported back on June 22 that Priest could return as soon as this week, and that's what ended up happening. There had been reports of a back injury keeping Priest out of the ring, but those reports were dismissed.

WWE officials reportedly hoped at one point that Priest would be back in time for the Money In the Bank qualifying matches. There is no word on what they have planned for him as we approach SummerSlam, but they have been slow to capitalize off the momentum he had coming out of the WrestleMania 37 program with rapper Bad Bunny.

Stay tuned for more on Priest's status.