Damian Priest

Damian Priest is an American professional wrestler signed with WWE. He is best known for his work as Damien Priest in WWE and Punishment Martinez in ROH. He is a former WWE North American Champion, United States Champion, World Heavyweight Champion, and Mr. Money in the Bank. The former NJPW star also has the NXT North American Championship and the tag team titles of RAW and SmackDown to his name.

Also Read: Who was Damian Priest trained by?

Early Life

Damian Priest was born on the 26th of September in 1982 in New York City, United States. However, he was raised in Puerto Rico in the municipality of Dorado. Priest has had a huge interest in combat sports since his childhood. He wanted to become a pro wrestler ever since he watched World Wrestling Council while living in Dorado. Furthermore, his father is also a martial artist and he taught Priest Japanese Gōjū-ryū karate.

Professional Wrestling Career

Early Years (2003-2014)

In 2003, Martinez began his wrestling career. He worked for several independent promotions and won several championships. In 2014, he attained the ROH Dojo.

ROH (2015-2018)

In 2015, he began working for ROH. During his time with ROH, he worked for NJPW and rose to prominence. After feuding with Rowan, Martinez moved towards the ROH Television Championship. In 2018, he defeated Silas Young to win the ROH Television Championship. In September, he lost the title to Jeff Cobb and left the company.

WWE (2018-Present)

NXt North American and US Championship (2020-2022)

In October, Martinez signed with WWE and began working with NXT. In 2019, Martinez was repackaged as Damien Priest. After the repackage, they heavily featured him on NXT television. At WarGames, he lost to Pete Dunne. In 2020, he feuded with Keith Lee and Dominick Dijakovic for the North American Championship. At TakeOver XXX, he won the NXT North American Championship in a ladder match. At Halloween Havoc, he lost the title to Johnny Gargano. At NXT New Year's Evil, Karrion Kross defeated him, which was his last appearance for NXT. At Royal Rumble, he made his main roster debut and lost.

After the Rumble, he and Bad Bunny began feuding with The Miz and John Morrison. At WrestleMania 37, Bad Bunny and Damien Priest defeated The Miz and John Morrison. Over the few months, Priest feuded with The Miz and Morrison and won. At SummerSlam, Priest defeated Sheamus and won the United States Championship. In 2022, he lost the United States Championship to Finn Balor.

The Judgement Day and World Championship (2022-2024)

At WrestleMania 38 Night Two, Priest made an appearance during the match between Edge and AJ Styles where he stared down the latter from the ringside. This distraction allowed Edge to spear Styles and get the win. Edge and Priest embraced following the match announcing their union, which would later be revealed to be known as - The Judgment Day. Rhea Ripley also joined the faction a month later at WrestleMania Backlash. The trio would then go on to target AJ Styles, Finn Balor, and Liv Morgan leading to a Six Person Tag Team Match at Hell in a Cell, which The Judgment Day won. On the next night, the group introduced its latest member Finn Balor. In a sudden turn of events, Balor, Ripley, and Priest turned on Edge and kicked him out of the group that he made.

The following months saw Priest become the powerhouse of The Judgment Day and feud against the likes of AJ Styles, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Edge, Rey Mysterio, and Dominik Mysterio. At Clash at the Castle, Priest and Balor lost to Rey Mysterio and Edge followed by Dominik betraying his father to join the villainous faction.

In the following months, Priest along with Balor and Dominik fought with The O.C. in a winning effort and lost a chance to capture the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship. At Royal Rumble, Priest entered the eponymous match at #22 but was eliminated by the returning Edge. He would then go on to challenge for the United States Championship at Elimination Chamber inside the hellish structure in a losing effort. At the RAW after WrestleMania, Dominik had a confrontation with Bad Bunny. Despite the latter being Priest's partner at WrestleMania 37, The Archer of Infamy gave a chokeslam to the rapper through the announce table. On the April 24 episode of SmackDown, Bad Bunny returned and challenged Priest to a San Juan Street Fight at WWE Backlash.

At the event, Bunny and Priest were supported by the Latino World Order and Judgment Day respectively. However, surprise returns from WWE legends Carlito and Savio Vega helped the Puerto Rican rapper seal the victory. Following the event, Priest shifted his focus to the inaugural World Heavyweight Championship where he got eliminated in the first round of the tournament by the eventual winner Seth Rollins. On the June 12 episode of RAW, Priest defeated Matt Riddle to qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank ladder match. At the event, he stood tall and became Mr. Money in the Bank. At Payback 2023, he also won the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship alongside Finn Balor defeating Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. This made him the third wrestler after Rob Van Dam in 2006 and The Miz in 2010 to hold another title besides Money in the Bank briefcase.

In the next few weeks, Priest tried to cash in his briefcase on Seth Rollins a few times but was unable to cash in. The two superstars defended their gold against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn and retained it. At Fastlane in October 2023, Priest and Balor lost the titles to Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso. However, it did not take long for The Judgment Day to regain the gold. While their first reign for the title ended in 35 days, they ended Rhodes and Uso's reign in nine days and regained the title on the October 16 episode of RAW. Following the victory, the already heated feud between Cody Rhodes and The Judgment Day fueled up and a match between Rhodes and Priest was then set up for Crown Jewel 2023, where Rhodes won.

Priest then officially admitted JD McDonagh into the Judgment Day while Rhea Ripley shook hands with Drew McIntyre. At Survivor Series: WarGames, Priest, McDonagh, McIntyre, Balor, and Mysterio competed in a WarGames match against Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins and Randy Orton but failed to win. Damian Priest entered the 2024 Men's Royal Rumble Match at Number 26 and eliminated R-Truth before being eliminated by Sami Zayn. The Judgment Day then defended their tag team championship against New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate) at Elimination Chamber: Perth in Australia.

At Elimination Chamber: Perth, Priest, and Finn Bálor successfully defended their tag team titles. However, lost both the SmackDown and RAW Tag Team Titles in a six-pack ladder match at WrestleMania XL, finishing their reign at 173 days. The following night, Priest cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Drew McIntyre and come out on top for the World Heavyweight Title as the second Puerto Rican world titleholder after Pedro Morales. Priest defended his title against Jey Uso, McIntyre, and Seth Rollins. At SummerSlam, Priest lost the title to Gunther after Bálor betrayed him, and his reign as World Heavyweight Champion ended after 118 days.

The Terror Twins (2024–present)

On the episode of RAW after SummerSlam, Finn Bálor officially announced the removal of Damian Minister and Rhea Ripley from The Judgment Day and introduced the "new" Judgment Day. That included Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh, Carlito, and Liv Morgan. Priest and Ripley stayed all together under the name "The Dread Twins." At Slam in Berlin, Priest and Ripley defeated Mysterio and Morgan, and at Bad Blood, Priest defeated Bálor.

Read more about Damian Priest's family here

Championships and Accomplishments