Damian Priest

Martínez trained at the Monster Factory and went on to win several titles in Monster Factory Pro Wrestling. In 2014, Martínez attended a Ring of Honor (ROH) training camp and went on to train at the ROH dojo.

His first appearance at a ROH show was in 2015 under his real name, Luis Martínez, where he competed in two dark matches, losing the first to The Romantic Touch and winning the second alongside Shaheem Ali against Hellcat and Mattick.[7]

Martínez made his return in Ring of Honor, billed as "Punisher Martinez", at the ROH Top Prospect Tournament where he defeated Colby Corino in the first round.[8] Martinez lost to Lio Rush in the semifinals; however, in spite of the loss, Martinez was signed to a contract by Ring of Honor. He subsequently established himself as a villain when he aligned himself with BJ Whitmer and Kevin Sullivan, entering a rivalry with their adversary Steve Corino. On September 16, 2016, Martinez took part in the 2016 Honor Rumble, where he had an impressive showing before ultimately being eliminated.[9] In early November he participated in the 2016 Survival of the Fittest, where he ended up being eliminated in the final Six Man Mayhem match. Martinez and Whitmer went on to briefly feud with the former ROH World Tag Team Champions War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe), first wrestling them to a no contest and then defeating them in an anything goes match.[10]

Through ROH's working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Martinez appeared at the two-day Honor Rising: Japan 2017 event. On the first night, Martinez teamed up with Los Ingobernables de Japon members Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito to defeat Dalton Castle, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Ryusuke Taguchi, with Martinez picking up the win for his team. On the second night, Martinez unsuccessfully challenged Hirooki Goto for the NEVER Openweight Championship.[11][12][13][14] Using the name Damian Martinez, he returned to ROH to unsuccessfully compete in a Manhattan Mayhem Battle Royal for the #1 Contendership to the ROH World Championship. Martinez also entered a Battle Royal for the #1 Contendership to the ROH World Television Championship, which he also lost.[10] On February 11, Martinez and B.J. Whitmer defeated War Machine, but after the match Martinez turned on Whitmer by hitting him with his South of Heaven finishing maneuver.

Martinez won his first championship in ROH on June 16, 2018, defeating Silas Young for the World Television Championship at night two of the Promotion's "State of the Art" event in Dallas, Texas. Martinez had qualified for an opportunity at said championship earlier that same evening by pinning Cheeseburger in a six-way Proving Ground match.[15] At Death Before Dishonor XVI, he successfully defended the title against Chris Sabin. After the match, he attacked Sabin, until Jeff Cobb made the save.[16] On September 29, his contract with Ring of Honor expired and he opted out of a contract offer. In his final appearance for the promotion, Martinez dropped the Television Championship against Cobb.[17]

On October 12, 2018, it was reported that Martinez had signed a contract with WWE, six days later he was formally introduced, among other new members to the NXT brand.[18] On November 28, at an NXT TV taping in Winter Park, Florida, Martinez made his debut as a heel, losing to Matt Riddle.[19] While on April 15, 2019, it was reported that Martinez would be repackaged and go by the new ring name "Damian Priest",[20] he was still wrestling under the "Punishment Martinez" name on NXT house shows during April and May.[21][22] Vignettes began airing starting at NXT TakeOver: XXV in June, reintroducing Martinez under this new character of Damian Priest.[23][24] In his debut match as Damian Priest, he defeated Raul Mendoza[25] and defeated Keith Lee in his second appearance.[26]

On October 2, 2019 episode of NXT, Priest started a feud with Pete Dunne and Killian Dain, culminating in a triple threat match at NXT TakeOver: War Games (2019) for #1 contendership for the NXT Championship, where Dunne was victorious.[27][28] Priest would also become a part of 5-on-5-on-5 Survivor Series pay-per-view match, representing Team NXT in a losing effort to Team SmackDown also involving Team Raw, where he was eliminated by Randy Orton.[29] On January, Priest was included in a storyline around the NXT North American Championship with Keith Lee and Dominik Dijajkovic. Priest would have an opportunity for the title against Lee and Dijakovic on April 1, 2020,[30] and a singles match against Lee on April 22, being defeated both times.[31][32]

His next storyline started when, on 22 April 2020 episode of NXT, Finn Bálor got attacked backstage by an unknown attacker.[33][34] On May 13, 2020, Priest was revealed as the unknown attacker[35] and both face each other at NXT TakeOver: In Your House, where Priest was defeated by Bálor.[36] Despite the loss, Priest's in-ring performance in this match was highly appreciated by Triple H and also by the fans, followed by Priest turning face in a backstage interview where he praised Bálor.[37] On 10 June 2020 episode of NXT, Cameron Grimes flaunted his previous victory over Finn Bálor and deemed Priest as a "loser" in a backstage interview, leading Priest to attack him,[38] confirming Priest's face turn. This ignited a small rivalry between Grimes and Priest, which concluded just before the tournament held for the vacated NXT North American Championship.[39][40][41]

After defeating Oney Lorcan and Ridge Holland,[42][43] Priest qualified to a ladder match at NXT TakeOver: XXX for the NXT North American Championship, where he won the title, thus earning his first championship in WWE.[44] Priest held the title for 67 days and defended against Timothy Thatcher, Johnny Gargano at NXT: TakeOver 31,[45][46] and Dexter Lumis,[47][48][49][50] but lost it against Gargano at NXT: Halloween Havoc in a Devil's Playground match.[51]

Gargano however, lost the title to Leon Ruff just two weeks later, due to a distraction during the title match by Priest.[52][53] Ruff retained the championship in a rematch against Gargano the next week by disqualification, when Priest punched Ruff during the match, thus disabling Gargano to win the championship.[54] This soon transitioned into a triple threat match for the NXT North American Championship which would take place at NXT TakeOver: WarGames (2020).[55][56][57][58] During the match, Damian Priest again got attacked by the same masked character and its gang that attacked him previously at Halloween Havoc, who was revealed to be Austin Theory.[59] As a result of that, Priest lost the match, with Gargano winning the title by pinning Ruff.[60]

On the December 9 episode of NXT, Priest looked forward to take revenge from Austin Theory following his attack at WarGames, however, he got viscously attacked by a returning Karrion Kross from behind,[61] after which Priest had to be helped out of the arena.[62] The next week, Kross challenged Priest to a match at NXT: New Year's Evil, which Priest accepted.[63][64][65] In that match, Priest lost to Kross, thus making it his final match in NXT.[66]

Priest made his next appearance in the 2021 Royal Rumble match, entering at #14. He eliminated John Morrison, The Miz, Elias and Kane before being eliminated by Bobby Lashley.[67] The following night, Priest made his debut on Raw after being introduced by Bad Bunny during a Miz TV segment. He would proceed to defeat The Miz in a singles match, marking his first win on the main roster.[68]