Report: Why Has Damian Priest Been Gone From WWE Television?

Damian Priest took part in the somewhat infamous Army of the Dead Lumberjack Match with The Miz at the WrestleMania Backlash last month. But after beating John Morrison the following night in a standard Lumberjack Match on Raw, "The Archer of Infamy" suddenly disappeared from WWE television. He hasn't wrestled a match since, and didn't even pop up backstage among the Raw wrestlers who weren't selected for Money in the Bank qualifying matches this week. Dave Meltzer reported on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio that Priest was out of action in order to recover from an injured back.

However, Fightful Select's Sean Ross Sapp then released his own report stating the claim he was injured had been denied and that he was being kept off for "other, undisclosed reasons." Sapp said his source claimed Priest could be back on Raw as early as next week.

The former NXT North American Champion made the jump to Raw earlier this year to get involved in the feud between Bad Bunny and Miz & Morrison. Priest said in an interview with Sporting News Australia last month that his job was essentially hanging in the balance depending on how well Bunny's WrestleMania match was received.

"I can put in all the work I want, but obviously I also need the company to believe in me and have my back. A lot of people were honest with me and they told me 'listen, you can't blow this because if you do, you're done'. All I said was you're giving me the opportunity, I'm going to do everything to my abilities to knock this out of the park," Priest said. "I knew I had put in the work, so give me the opportunity and I will do my end. It goes both ways, and I think we both delivered so we brought our audience a product worthy of them being entertained and being happy to watch."

In the same interview he discussed his jump from NXT to Raw saying, "The hardest thing is being the new kid in school and that change of the unexpected and starting all over. NXT is a big deal and I remember joining NXT and feeling those nerves and wanting to be accepted. Not just on TV, but in the locker room and by the producers and by everyone. I wanted to belong, and then of course you want to put on the performances and whatnot.

"Basically I had to do that all over again on Raw, and Raw is even bigger. There's a lot more people watching, so the nerves are higher up there. There's so many hands in the pot, explaining things to you — which way to go and what to do," he continued. "It was a lot to take in at first, and the transition was the hardest part. Although it's the same company, it's a different brand."