You may see professional wrestlers living their best lives, surrounded by luxuries, but things weren’t always like that for many. Take Damien Priest’s story, for example. Before he went from an underground favorite to a full-blown WWE main eventer, there was a time when he was struggling in his personal life, so much so that he was homeless, living out of his car.
As if that wasn’t enough, Damien Priest had to take a short break from wrestling after an unfortunate incident took place. Luckily, he did not give up, and a year later, he was back at it again!
Why did Damien Priest retire from wrestling for a year?
The World Heavyweight Champion reportedly has a net worth of around 2 million dollars, but he knows all too well what it means to have lost it all at one point. Damien Priest is a true example of why no one should ever let circumstances come in the way of pursuing their dreams. You may face a slight hiccup on the road, but you will bounce right back on your feet if you don’t give up.
During his recent appearance on the ‘What Do You Wanna Talk About?‘ podcast hosted by Cody Rhodes, Priest recalled how his gear got stolen out of his car, and he had to retire from the sport because he couldn’t afford to buy another.
This happened when he lived in Jersey. In his words, “My gear got stolen out of my car when I lived in Jersey on the indies. And I had to retire from wrestling because I couldn’t afford new gear.”
So for the next year or so, Priest got a job just so he could “afford to buy another pair of gear.”
When Rhodes asked him why his gear was kept in a car, Priest revealed that it was because he was homeless and living in his car. He would often crash at other people’s homes or just spend the night at a party.
Because I was homeless.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.
It is truly wild to think about how far Priest has come when you hear him talk so candidly about those tough early days. Behind the badass persona, big entrances, and championship belts is a guy who once had to choose between giving up entirely or working extra hard for his dream. He chose to persevere and go with the latter.
Damien Priest worked as a bouncer to make ends meet
There are other wrestlers who know all too well about what it’s like growing up with financial hardship and facing other challenges, but just like Priest, they never gave up, either.
As for Priest, living on the street played a huge role in his career, making him realize that he had to give his hundred percent to the combat sport. In a chat with Superluchas.com, the wrestler recalled how he had no money to afford basic necessities like rent and food.
This led to him putting his dreams on the back burner for a bit and getting a job as a bouncer in nightclubs. Soon, he was even promoted to manager. He recalled,
I lived on the street, I slept on the street, and I was homeless and looking for how to eat. Even having work, I suffered. I tried to pay rent, sometimes I did not know what I was going to eat the next day. I kind of gave up wrestling and started working in nightclubs and earned money. I worked as a bouncer, and then I was manager of several night clubs and strip clubs.
The final straw came when one of the owners told him that he would be getting more work and paid more, but would have to completely stop “the wrestling thing” he did on weekends. That was when Priest handed in his two-week notice and decided to give a hundred percent of his attention to wrestling.
Today, you know how well that paid off.
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