Damian Priest Looks Back On Meeting WWE Hall Of Famer The Undertaker

Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest often gets compared to The Undertaker, largely in part to his dark persona, his attire while with The Judgment Day, and his physique. 

Priest recently appeared on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," where he recalled meeting "The Deadman" multiple times in the past. He stated that The Undertaker was his idol growing up, and he was always fascinated by the legend's gimmick. The star then claimed he met his idol back in 1999 at an autograph signing in New York, and even tried to do his impression of The Undertaker during the meeting. 

"He was so nice, too. Which blew me away, right? He's The Undertaker, right? You expect him to, like, set me on fire," he recalled.

Priest recalled that in 1999, The Undertaker was injured and there were rumors that he was thinking about retiring. The WWE star revealed that he also tried to convince his idol to not hang his boots up during their brief meeting. "That was the first time I met him, I won't forget that, I remember choking," he recalled. 

Priest later met The Undertaker again at the WWE Performance Center after signing with WWE, expressing how he got emotional meeting his hero and even briefly forgot his name.

Damian Priest has a lot of admiration for The Undertaker and gave quite a character account of him. The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion also noted that Undertaker carries himself in a way that fans want to be just like him.

"There's nothing fake about him. He's like a legitimate badass," the star recalled. "I'm glad I looked up to him. He's everything I thought he should be, and he was."

While recalling meeting The Undertaker at the Performance Center again years later, he claimed that he drove from his house to the Performance Center on his day off after his friend told him that "The Deadman" was in attendance. "And then [Matt] Bloom knows I'm a big Undertaker fan, is dying laughing, he goes, 'You wanna say hello?' I was like, 'Yeah,' so he brings me over and, of course, he embarrasses me," he said. 

Priest added that he worked with The Undertaker in the ring and stated that the veteran is a good mentor.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.