NXT Superstar Damien Priest is on the rise within WWE’s black-and-gold brand. Joining Sean “X-Pac” Waltman on his podcast, X-Pac 12360, Priest discussed the similarities between himself in real life and his on-screen character.

“This is the closest to me that I’ve ever been in this business,” Priest admitted. “The idea to live forever is to accomplish as much as I can in this business so that my name gets remembered.”

He continued, ”When you think about iconic rock stars, like Morrison, and bands like Priest and Motley Crue, they’ll never get forgotten. So the idea is to have that image, because that’s the way I want to live, or at least how Damian Priest wants to live, because that’s the way somebody who’s never going to be forgotten lives. And to a certain degree, that is me. I try to live kind of like a rock star-ish life, where I like going out, I like going to concerts, I head-bang. This is all real stuff.”

Priest recalled having a WWE tryout back in 2010. Although he was upset at the time, he now understands that he simply wasn’t ready. He confessed that he wasn’t even close to where he is now, noting that he wasn’t even in good shape.

“I was in a shape, it was round, but I didn’t know the inside of a gym at all. I looked horrible, I was sloppy in the ring. But to me, I thought I was ready. Looking back now, I can be honest with myself and know that, although it took me a very long time to get here, I’m the most prepared I could be.”

Like the New Day, Priest believes in the power of positivity. He stressed how this mindset helped him achieve his goals within pro wrestling, adding that his belief in “being positive” isn’t a work.

“[…] when you really start making an effort to do it, it’s incredible the amount of positive that can happen in return. Just because you’re not so focused on the negative, and you just keep moving forward and moving forward and moving forward.”

“So even when I did my [first] PC tryout and I was turned down, while I was upset, it didn’t stop me. I still kept on working hard, and I still got more opportunities. I got an actual job in wrestling and I got to travel different parts of the world wrestling, which I’d never done in all the years I’d been in the business. And then, when I wrote this place off, all of a sudden, I’m getting a phone call, and I’m like, ‘This is unexpected, but wow.”

Damien Priest competes this Saturday at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. He will take on both Pete Dunne and Killian Dain a triple threat match. The winner of the match will receive an NXT Championship opportunity at this Sunday’s Survivor Series against Adam Cole.