Andrew SpoorsAs Rushonrock’s WWE Week gathers pace, our King Of The Ring Andy Spoors catches up with more global Superstars. The Judgment Day talk in-ring action, feuds and musical treats.
Rushonrock: Damian, how was your introduction to life in the UK when filming the BT Sport advert for Clash At The Castle?
Damian Priest: That was a trip! I had a really good time filming that. I learned quite a bit, especially on the sheep farm. That was by far one of the coolest things I’ve done when working for the company you know? Getting to come to Cardiff ahead of time and seeing the city and getting to learn some customary traditions. It was cool, I really enjoyed that.
Rushonrock: At Clash you faced off against two legends and Hall Of Famers in Edge and Rey, what is it like to stand across the ring from them?
Damian Priest: It’s awesome man. The fan in me is going crazy, this is wild you know. You think things are going to be a certain way, and you hope, but you never really know. And then you get to have these awesome experiences and it’s like this is wild and I can’t believe this is real. So yeah, getting to step into the ring with those guys is extremely special.
Rushonrock: Rhea, you’ve been pretty hard on Dominik (Mysterio) in this feud. Do you enjoy the memes that come out on Twitter and other socials?
Rhea Ripley: Haha yeah some people are very creative! And some people just think of so many different things I don’t even think about while doing whatever it is I’m doing out there with Dom. So they sort of make their own stories in a way as well, which is really cool to see and read. Sometimes I’m like ‘woah you guys are going very far with that’ but I kind of like it at the same time and it’s just funny. I’ve seen some of the memes where I’ve replaced Eddie (Guerrero) and I love it. I love it so much!
Rushonrock: Damian, now that Triple H is head of creative, will you be looking to celebrate your next title ring with another picture in a hot tub?
Damian Priest: Aww yeah man. Let’s get a new and improved hot tub pic! That sounds good to me…
Rushonrock: Rhea, you recently had a stare down with Beth Phoenix, what were you thinking when that happened?
Rhea Ripley: Insane! She’s always who I say I want my dream match against. To be out there in front of everyone, it felt so surreal and cool. If the boys didn’t drag me away, I would have loved to have fought her. Hopefully WWE make the match, because at some point in my life I would love to have a match with her maybe at Survivor Series…my fingers are crossed.
Rushonrock: Would it be fair to say the reception to The Judgment Day was a little slow to get going? Did it take the likes of Rhea Ripley and Finn Balor to join to really get things moving in the right direction?
Damian Priest: Yeah we just needed time. People just needed to see where we were headed, you know? Obviously it’s just the way society is now, everybody needs to know everything right away. Needs to have everything right away and we didn’t give them that. It’s been a process and I think people are like ‘Ohh now we get it!’. But we are getting to where we want to be, which is showing that the three of us can be on a level like anyone else. On a top level. It was just about raising our own stock within the company and I think we are getting there and people are seeing that.
Rushonrock: Talk to us about what you guys are listening to?
Finn Balor: I’m listening to this guy right now called BONES and he’s part of this sort of stable called TeamSESH. That’s what I’m listening to when I work out and it’s kind of like trappy, like a heavy trap sound, but I’d encourage you to check that guy out. The other guy I’m listening to right now is called Murkage Dave, he’s from England, I think it’s London. He reminds me of Mike Skinner from The Streets. So that’s what I’m listening to right now.
Rushonrock: Any Sam Fender finding its way on the playlist?
Finn Balor: Sam Fender I listen to yeah. I like his covers, I think he did a great cover of Bruce Springsteen. So yeah, I like Sam Fender and I’ve been listening to a little bit of The Kooks, as I hadn’t listened to them in a while, I like those guys. I actually saw them live in Tokyo and that was a great show. It’s mainly that TeamSESH, a lot of UK grime as well. So a lot of those guys as well!
Rhea Ripley: Of course it’s Motionless In White! They are my number one band and I listen to them on repeat all the time. I love those boys! Apart from that, I’ve been trying to venture out and listen to different music and different bands. I’ve got a bit of Beartooth on my playlist, I don’t really know the other bands as I haven’t memorised their names yet. I listen to a lot of New Years Day, Suicide Silence, Of Mice And Men. I’ve just started listening to Sleeping With Sirens again — I used to listen to them when I was younger and Pierce The Veil. I just listen to the same bands that I did in high school pretty much!
Rushonrock: Motionless and Sleeping With Sirens? That’s like NXT Takeover black and gold era all over again…
Rhea Ripley: Oh dude, it was so good! I remember even for the Randy Orton thing we did on Raw for his anniversary, they had Voices by Motionless In White and I was out there like ‘awww this is so cool’. Just jamming out!
Damian Priest: It’s funny, I go through phases of music and what I listen to. These days I’m listening to a lot of Soilwork, Killswitch Engage, Metallica. My thrash metal is always on my playlist ready to go, I’m a big metal guy obviously. It changes when you have your “go-to’s” in the moment. Like I said, Soilwork is probably my go-to right now, but I go in and out of stuff. Tomorrow it could be Mötley Crüe, it just depends how I feel!
Rushonrock: If you had the opportunity to pick a band to play you to the ring at a Premium Live Event, any song and band, who are you picking?
Rhea Ripley: Again of course it has to be Motionless In White! What song? Hmmm that’s a good question. I would have said Voices, that would be my first pick just because I love that song. But they’ve already done it for Randy. I feel like…wow…I don’t know! They have so many good songs! I really love Slaughterhouse. I feel like that would probably be my choice right now because it’s so heavy. I could really get in the zone and just obliterate anyone I get in the ring with, because I’d be so fired up!
(Just a couple of weeks after this interview, Rhea received new entrance music by none other than Motionless In White! Check it out here…
Damian Priest: It would have to be Metallica because they are the biggest metal band ever right? But what song? See now that is a tough one! Maybe The Four Horsemen? I would say For Whom The Bell Tolls, but the Hell In The Cell that Undertaker had with Triple H, the cell itself had that as its theme song! I was like how does the cell itself have a theme song!? So I can’t pick that one. I’ll go with The Four Horsemen.
Rushonrock: Well Taker got Metallica to play his entrance for his Graveyard Match against AJ…
Damian Priest: Oh yeah that’s right. So there’s a chance…