How long was Finn Balor plotting to betray Damian Priest? RAW star details reasons

RAW star Finn Balor did the unthinkable at WWE SummerSlam, betraying Damian Priest and costing him the World Heavyweight Championship. The Irish star had seemingly appointed himself the new leader of The Judgment Day. His turn on The Archer of Infamy had been a long time coming.

A furious Damian Priest stormed to the ring on RAW tonight, demanding Finn Balor join him. The latter declined but appeared on the Titantron to inform his former tag team partner why he cost him on Saturday. The feud has been brewing for a year and stems from Priest inadvertently costing Balor the same title at SummerSlam 2023 when the latter challenged Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Damian Priest was Senor Money in the Bank and tried giving that briefcase to his Judgment Day stablemate to use as a weapon, but the veteran Irishman declined. The Puerto Rican star distracted the referee, but Rollins pounced and hit a Curb Stomp for the pinfall victory. Tonight, The Irishman alluded to a non-televised conversation with Priest after that moment. He claimed his former friend told him to 'man up,' and so he waited a full year and ended up screwing Priest and his family (the fans).

Finn Balor, 43, has been scheming behind closed doors to get revenge on Damian Priest, 41. There have been continuous signs of a rift between the pair and hints that the former is starting a working relationship with Liv Morgan.

Thus, the Demon Prince has become the new leader of Judgment Day. Liv Morgan, 'Dirty' Dominik Mysterio, JD McDonagh, and Carlito are the group's new members. Priest and Rhea Ripley have been ousted from RAW's top faction.

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Damian Priest officially turned babyface before his exchange with Finn Balor on RAW

Damian Priest is now a top babyface on RAW, although it felt like that's been the case for most of his world title reign. He confirmed this tonight with a promo where he embraced the fans as his 'new family.'

The former Judgment Day star received a massive pop at his entrance and when he spoke heroically. This will be the first time Priest has been a babyface since February 2022.

Priest's title reign helped him gain massive popularity with fans. He spent 118 days as World Heavyweight Champion after cashing in on Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania XL.

It looks like fans are set for a heated feud between Balor and Priest, and a new version of the faction has been formed. The latter and Rhea Ripley were the original members of the stable with WWE Hall of Famer Edge (fka Adam Copeland).