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Damian Priest had one of the best nights of his main roster run on RAW this week as he successfully defended his US Championship against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre. However, according to the latest reports, the original plan for Priest was different.
WWE announced that Damian Priest would kick off the show with an open challenge for his US title just hours before RAW went on air. However, The Archer Of Infamy's segment was quickly interrupted by Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Riddle, and Randy Orton.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Radio has revealed the original plans for Damian Priest's US Open challenge.
Meltzer reported that there were a lot of changes made to the RAW match card. He mentioned that although Priest was made to defend the US Championship against Drew McIntyre and Sheamus, the triple threat match wasn't what WWE had initially planned.
The report mentioned that the initial idea was to have Damian Priest work with Drew McIntyre. WWE wanted a program between Bobby Lashley and Randy Orton, so they decided to cancel the former's match with Sheamus and inserted the Celtic Warrior into the United States title picture, making the open challenge into a triple threat bout.
“It appears the decision was that they’re gonna go with Randy Orton and Bobby Lashley, so therefore they wanted Randy Orton in there with Bobby Lashley, which took Sheamus out of that match. And I did hear that Drew and Priest at one point was going to be a singles match, but when they took Sheamus out (of the Lashley match), Sheamus was moved, and they made it into a three-way match. There were a million changes during the day, and at the end of the day, every match advertised didn’t happen." (H/T: Wrestletalk)
Damian Priest retained the US Championship on WWE RAW
Sheamus, Priest, and McIntyre engaged in a hard-hitting affair on RAW. All three men laid it all on the line, with the Archer of Infamy retaining his Championship by pinning the Scotsman in the middle of the ring.
Both men had a show of respect after the bout as the former WWE Champion appreciated Priest's efforts to retain his title.
Were you impressed with the Triple Threat match? Who would you like to see Damian Priest go up against next? Let us know in the comments below.
