Video: WWE Star Damian Priest Discusses How He Came To Love Heavy Metal

Damian Priest may no longer have the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, or even the support of his stable, the Judgement Day, after losing the title to Gunther this past Saturday at SummerSlam thanks to a betrayal from his stablemate, Finn Balor. But while it remains to be seen how Judgement Day deals with Balor's turn on Priest or Dominik Mysterio's turn on Rhea Ripley, or how Priest will respond to losing the title, he at least has a genre of music to get him through the down times. And that genre is none other than heavy metal.

On a "WWE 24: Extra" clip posted on YouTube, Priest's love for metal was explored through Priest and his childhood friend, Charlie Corletta. Corletta revealed that Priest had previously been a fan of hip hop music, and would often complain when Corletta played metal in the car while the two were driving to school or wrestling shows. That changed, however, after Corletta played Priest Metallica's "From Whom the Bell Tolls," asking Priest to picture WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker coming out to the tune.

From that point forward, Priest was hooked on the genre, with his brother later describing him going through a face where he sported red hair and got several tattoos to emulate the heavy metal look. The high point of Priest's metal fandom, however, came when Corletta, a guitarist, was able to play Priest to the ring for the 2020 edition NXT Halloween Havoc, where Priest defended the NXT North American Championship against Johnny Gargano, with footage of the entrance being shown. Though he lost the match, Priest described the moment as a childhood dream come true for him and Corletta.