WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest recently opened up about a period of significant hardship early in his career, revealing that he was once homeless and had to quit wrestling for a year after his gear was stolen. Speaking on Cody Rhodes’ “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast, Priest shared the story of the struggles he endured before finding success.
During the interview, the topic of Priest’s early days on the independent circuit came up. He detailed a devastating setback that nearly ended his career permanently. “My gear got stolen out of my car when I lived in Jersey on the indies,” Priest recounted. “And I had to retire from wrestling because I couldn’t afford new gear.”
The loss of his gear, a wrestler’s most essential equipment, forced him to step away from the business entirely. “So I got a job that I could afford to buy another pair of gear, like, a year later,” he explained, noting he also needed to afford an apartment. This difficult period saw him without a stable place to live.
When Cody Rhodes asked why his gear was in his car, Priest responded bluntly, “Because I was homeless.” He elaborated on his situation at the time: “Yeah, basically… crashing at like, random people’s places, or go to a party and just sleep there, you know? But that was, yeah, that was the life of the for a few years… on and off.”
Priest’s journey from homelessness and a forced retirement to becoming a World Heavyweight Champion in WWE is a powerful story of perseverance. He eventually got back on his feet, bought new gear, and resumed his career, which led him to Ring of Honor and eventually a WWE contract. Click below to listen to the entire podcast (highly recommended).
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit What Do You Wanna Talk About? with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
