Originally published at Damian Priest following title win: 'I'm a proud Latino'
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest wants the beginning of his title reign to prove that anyone can achieve anything.
During an appearance on WWE talk show The Bump this week, Priest was asked about a social media post he made for fans from Puerto Rico on Sunday night, shortly after dethroning Drew McIntyre to become the new World Heavyweight Champion.
Orgulloso! Gracias 🇵🇷
— Damian Priest (@ArcherOfInfamy) April 8, 2024
Priest mentioned that he wants to be an example for those from Puerto Rico, or anyone from any background.
“Knowing that somebody from whatever background, whatever culture, you can achieve success and you can live out your dreams. I am the example,” he said. “For me, and my little island in Puerto Rico, it makes me proud that I can say I’m the second in history. It’s been 50 years since we had a Puerto Rican champion. Just saying that out loud, oh my god. It’s wild to me. I appreciate the support, I can’t thank our fans enough. Especially our Latinos. Because I speak specifically of Puerto Rico because I’m Puerto Rican, but I’m a proud Latino. And I’m proud to represent and I hope that the culture is proud of me to be one of theirs. This means the world to me.”
Priest continued to discuss his connections to Puerto Rico when he was asked about recording artist Bad Bunny posting about the match. Bunny mocked McIntyre for losing his belt, replying to a post that the Scottish wrestler made during his match on Sunday.
hope you had a good shift https://t.co/j8jpSrjxTD
— Benito (@sanbenito) April 7, 2024
Priest was asked to reflect on his singles match last year against Bad Bunny at Backlash in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Priest mentioned that the match was a massive motivator for him beyond that point.
“I think that match, what we did there, first of all, was way bigger, way more important than any win or loss,” he told WWE Bump.”What we accomplished in Puerto Rico was something that I’ll cherish forever. But yeah, that moment in PR got me feeling like, ‘I gotta keep going up, and I can’t stop. Tomorrow’s gotta be better than yesterday.’ And it is.”