AEW star reveals Damian Priest told him "he wouldn't make it" and reacts to the latter's WWE success

Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest has become one of the top stars in the promotion in the past year. AEW star Preston Vance recently recalled an interaction with Priest.

Preston Vance signed with AEW in 2020 and aligned with The Dark Order. He later left the faction to join La Faccion Ingobernable. Vance is currently performing on All Elite Wrestling's sister promotion, ROH. He had some tryouts for the WWE in the past as well.

In a recent interview with Bodyslam, Preston Vance opened up about his experience with Damian Priest. Vance claimed Priest wanted him to succeed in the business, even though the now-former World Heavyweight Champion had doubts about himself. He also shared his reaction to The Punishment's success in the Sports-Entertainment juggernaut:

"Damian Priest was also a coach there at the time. He play such a huge role in my career. Him and QT [Marshall] both are the most influential people in my career specially in the early days. Damian told me, because he's quite a bit older than me so he told me that I'll never make it but my whole goal, I want you to make it and I wanna be a part of your story. Now he made it." [4:57-5:30]

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Damian Priest declares he will win the WWE Elimination Chamber match

Damian Priest will be competing in the 2025 men's Elimination Chamber match against a stacked field like John Cena, CM Punk, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, and Logan Paul. The former WWE World Heavyweight Champion has some huge plans for the match.

In an exclusive backstage interview after SmackDown, Damian Priest claimed that it's his time and he'll be winning the Elimination Chamber match to get to the main event of WrestleMania:

"The first thing is, I feel like my insides are broken. Two of the biggest, baddest men I've ever been in the ring with, still Damian Priest wins. Come [Elimination] Chamber, we're talking about one of the biggest Chamber matches of all time. Just look at the people in it, and I'm right there in the match with them. This is my time; this is where I go into that match and guarantee my spot at WrestleMania," he said.

We will have to wait and see if Damian Priest walks out of Toronto with a guaranteed spot at WWE WrestleMania 41.