{"id":262353,"date":"2026-09-13T08:36:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T08:36:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/13\/3-reasons-why-damian-priest-turned-heel-on-wwe-smackdown\/"},"modified":"2026-09-13T08:36:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T08:36:17","slug":"3-reasons-why-damian-priest-turned-heel-on-wwe-smackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/13\/3-reasons-why-damian-priest-turned-heel-on-wwe-smackdown\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Reasons why Damian Priest turned heel on WWE SmackDown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5216748\" data-slug-id=\"2835811\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>WWE SmackDown after Sunday Night&#8217;s Main Event witnessed a major heel turn when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/punishment-martinez\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Damian Priest<\/a> turned on R-Truth. This occurred after Priest and R-Truth failed to capture the AAA Tag Team Championships from the War Raiders.<\/p>\n<p>The Archer of Infamy launched a post-match attack, stunning the Mexican crowd. In this article, let&#8217;s take a look at three possible reasons the former Judgment Day member turned into a villainous star on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/5-things-wwe-subtly-told-us-smackdown-september-11-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">blue brand<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>#3. WWE may be ready to push Damian Priest as a singles star again<\/h2>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Damian Priest is a former World Heavyweight Champion. However, in recent months, Priest has mostly been booked in the tag team division.<\/p>\n<p>After losing the WWE Tag Team Championships, Damian told Truth he wanted to pursue a singles run again. Despite this, R-Truth accepted an AAA Tag Team title match.<\/p>\n<p>Priest&#8217;s heel turn on Friday night&#8217;s show subtly suggests that the Stamford-based promotion is ready to push the 43-year-old star as a singles star again. It wouldn&#8217;t be a surprise if he enters the World title picture soon or becomes part of the 2026 Men&#8217;s Money in the Bank ladder match.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>#2 Priest could be moving to WWE RAW<\/h2>\n<p>For those who might not know, Damian Priest and Lola Vice are in a real-life romantic relationship. Based on the recent vignettes, it&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/4-clear-signs-28-year-old-star-wwe-raw-s-mystery-woman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">confirmed<\/a> that Vice is coming to the main roster as part of the red brand.<\/p>\n<p>Being on the same brand can help a couple travel together, support each other, and spend as much time together as possible.<\/p>\n<p>Damian&#8217;s heel turn on SmackDown could be a strategic move by WWE to shift The Archer of Infamy to the Adam Pearce-led brand. As a result, Vice and Priest could both wrestle on RAW.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>#1. WWE may have no further plans for Priest and Truth as a tag team<\/h2>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/twitter-embed\">\n<div class=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/twitter-embed\">\n<div class=\"profile-card\">\n<p><span><span>DAMIAN PRIEST HAS TURNED ON R-TRUTH \ud83d\udc40 HEEL PRIEST IS BACK. #SmackDown<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Since R-Truth and Damian Priest lost the Tag Team Championships on SmackDown, the sports entertainment juggernaut may be looking to move them away from the tag team division.<\/p>\n<p>A change in creative direction could be another major reason behind Priest&#8217;s character switch on SmackDown. This also lets WWE separate the two stars and book them individually in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<p>The former Judgment Day member might move into the mid-card or enter the World title picture. Meanwhile, the Triple H-led creative group can book Truth in comedic segments or decent singles matches on SmackDown.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline bottom\" data-tab=\"bottom\">\n<p>Get all the hottest wrestling news FIRST by clicking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=sportskeeda.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\" class=\"bottom_tagline_link\" data-tab=\"bottom\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Shardul Sant<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/3-reasons-damian-priest-turned-heel-wwe-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WWE SmackDown after Sunday Night&#8217;s Main Event witnessed a major heel turn when Damian Priest turned on R-Truth. This occurred after Priest and R-Truth failed to capture the AAA Tag Team Championships from the War Raiders. The Archer of Infamy launched a post-match attack, stunning the Mexican crowd. In this article, let&#8217;s take a look [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":262354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-262353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}