Damian Priest On His NXT Takeover XXX Win Being His First Ladder Match, Watching Matches to Prepare

Damian Priest’s first championship in NXT came at NXT Takeover XXX, but it was also his first ladder match as well. Priest spoke with The Gorilla Position and talked the pressure of competing in his first ladder match at the show and being intimidated by the gimmick match, as well as what he did to prepare for the match. Highlights and the full video are below:

On the match being his first-ever Ladder Match: “Yeah, so there was also a different kind of pressure going into that match, because I was the only one in the match that has never been in a ladder match. And I remember just to kind of warm up to the idea, I went to the PC and I asked them to put a ladder in the ring, just so I could stand on it. Just to see what it felt like and the height. Because I had so many ideas, and I’m like ‘Aw man, I’m going to destroy this match! We’re gonna go crazy!’ And then I climbed that ladder and I was like, ‘Nope!’ And I got right back down. Man, it’s scary. I’m not the biggest fan of heights, so… I know that sounds weird considering some of the things I do. But every time I go to do one of those crazy, high-risk maneuvers in the moment, instantly I regret it.”

On watching ladder matches to prepare: “I didn’t watch them at the PC, so I did watch them at home. I can’t even count how many ladder matches I watched in preparation. And I got absolutely nothing out of them, because I was like, ‘These guys are just so good! They’re so good at this. I can’t do any of this!’ [laughs] And I asked tons of guestions from a lot of people that have been in ladder matches, just big brains and legends and stuff. So I think that helped.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Gorilla Position with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.