Report: Damian Priest Debut On 1/1 WWE SmackDown Nixed, Call Ups Planned For Priest And Rhea Ripley
Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley both suffered losses at NXT New Year’s Evil and it could pave the way for a main roster debut.
On Wednesday afternoon, WrestleVotes noted that an NXT talent was scheduled to be called up to participate in the Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns storyline on the January 1 WWE SmackDown, but obviously, that didn’t happen. Shortly after the report, Fightful Select reported Damian Priest was being planned for a call up as of early this week, though the report couldn’t speak to Priest’s potential involvement in the Owens and Reigns storyline.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reports Priest was going to debut on SmackDown and team with Owens in a match against Reigns and Jey Uso. However, the plan was scrapped as the parties involved didn’t believe it made sense. Priest was reportedly at SmackDown and ready to debut.
Meltzer went on to report that Priest was expected to be part of WWE Raw as early as the end of January, though it is unclear if that is still happening.
Mike Johnson at PWInsider adds the plan is for Priest and Rhea Ripley to be moved to the main roster, while noting that things can always change based on “the whims of Vince McMahon.”
Fightful will continue to update fans on the roster situations of Priest and Ripley as more is known.
If you missed anything from NXT New Year’s Evil, check out Fightful’s full report on the show by clicking here.
