Damian Priest has responded publicly to R-Truth’s comments blaming him for a frightening injury scare during their match on the October 16 episode of WWE SmackDown, while also explaining the reasoning behind his September split from Truth as a tag team.
The two faced off in a singles match on the blue brand, but the contest was stopped early after R-Truth landed awkwardly while attempting a missile dropkick on Priest. The referee halted the match due to concerns over Truth’s condition following the awkward landing. In the days that followed, Truth took to social media to give fans an update and appeared to place blame on Priest for how the spot unfolded.
Speaking on WWE Radio’s Off The Ropes, Priest pushed back on that characterization. According to Ringside News, Priest joked that Truth “nearly ended his own life just because he was so desperate to beat him,” framing the incident as a result of Truth’s own effort in the match rather than anything Priest did wrong. Priest did not accept responsibility for the awkward landing, instead suggesting Truth’s intensity in trying to defeat him played a role in how the spot went.
Priest also used the Off The Ropes interview to address the bigger-picture question fans have been asking since he ended his partnership with R-Truth in September: why he turned on a partner he had aligned with. Priest told the show that his mindset has shifted since the split, pointing to the nature of professional wrestling itself. “This is an individual business,” Priest said, signaling that his priorities have moved toward his own singles ambitions rather than maintaining the tag alliance with Truth.
Since the September split, Priest has presented a noticeably different version of his character on WWE programming, leaning into a more self-focused approach that has now extended into his in-ring rivalry with Truth. The October 16 SmackDown match marked a notable chapter in that evolving story between the two, and Priest’s comments on Off The Ropes serve as his most direct public explanation yet of both the turn and the fallout from the injury scare. Neither Priest nor WWE has released further medical details regarding R-Truth’s status following the stoppage.
