Damian Priest Stepped In to Help a Female Talent Minutes Before CM Punk's Incident

The CM Punk phone-slapping incident at the WWE hotel after WrestleMania 42 was not an isolated moment. It was the visible flash point of a security situation that had been building all weekend.

TMZ posted footage of Punk approaching a fan in the hotel lobby and slapping a phone out of their hand. The fan had been filming Bayley hugging someone, and while TMZ did not identify the other person, Punk's wife, AJ Lee. Two hotel security guards are visible in the footage, but only after the fact. Not before.

That pattern, security arriving after something has already happened rather than preventing it, defined the entire WrestleMania 42 weekend at the company hotel, according to multiple accounts gathered by PWInsider.

As early as Thursday, PWInsider Elite had already flagged the problem. "There's already been some concerns among talent about the company hotel this year," the outlet reported. "Last night, there was no additional security beyond the hotel itself and since the hotel is part of a major casino, there was no real ability to restrict the flow of fans.

We are told there were tons of fans in the lobby and camped out by the elevators who mobbed everyone they saw, even referees, trying to get photos and autographs. The hope among the talents we heard from is that there will be some additional measures taken tonight to assist them when they are coming in and out."

Those measures either did not materialize or were insufficient. A long-time PWInsider reader who was staying at the same hotel and asked not to be identified told the outlet that just minutes before the Punk incident, WWE's Damian Priest had to step in personally to help a female WWE talent get away from a group of fans surrounding her for photos and autographs. Multiple similar situations unfolded throughout the weekend.

Social media footage circulating during WrestleMania weekend showed Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre being surrounded and mobbed by fans as they tried to move through the hotel. Some kept walking and tried to navigate through.

Others stopped for photos in an attempt to manage the situation. What is absent from all of that footage is any security presence stopping fans from following these performers.

PWInsider also confirmed knowledge of at least one instance where a referee was nearly knocked down by a crowd of fans inside the hotel.