Has Damian Priest Missed His Best Chance To Cash In His Money In The Bank Briefcase?

There are some things we might never see in our lifetime: a man living on Mars, a human with the ability to fly, and Damian Priest cashing in the Money in the Bank contract. It is what it is, and it’s incredibly boring at this point. Judgment Day as a faction is as hot as ever. Priest is still one-half of the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Champions, and he clearly has a major role in the group. They have had numerous opportunities to do the cash-in, only to pull back or never try at all.

We know that cashing in the Money in the Bank is a time-honored moment that always gets a good pop. However, the timing has to be right, and this type of thing will depend on the person holding the briefcase. It’s safe to say that Priest’s timing has come and gone and probably come and gone a second time. With time running out and opportunities that make sense to do so dwindling, WrestleMania 40 seems like the perfect time for him to cash in.

In this article, we’re going to examine why and how he should do it. With that said, let’s get started!

HOW DAMIAN PRIEST OVERSTAYED HIS MONEY IN THE BANK WELCOME

The rule is that if you are the Money in the Bank contract holder, you will have the ability to cash in for a title opportunity any time you want. You can pull a CM Punk, who cashed in right after Batista crushed Edge on WWE RAW. As in, waiting until a champion is down and hurt to make your move.

You can also be like Seth Rollins and wait for the main event of WrestleMania and cash it in halfway through. Just don’t be an Austin Theory type and cash it in on a title beneath the prestige of the Money in the Bank contract. With all due respect to the WWE United States Title, it’s just not cash-in worthy.

Damian Priest won the briefcase at last year’s event under the same name and has just paraded it around since then. Shortly after winning it, like many holding the MITB briefcase, he made it his own. He personalized the case to be in Judgment Day colors and began calling himself “Señor Money in the Bank.” For those unaware, Priest might have been born in New York, but he’s of Puerto Rican descent. Therefore, as a Hispanic man, it made a ton of sense to go with something like this.

Of course, it’s common for the winner to walk around with the briefcase. That’s kind of the point of the entire gimmick. The bad guy (in most cases) walks around with the contract and waits for the opportunity to strike. This allows built-in suspense.

WHEN WAITING SEEMS ODD:

Damian Priest has the added compliment of a faction of people willing to help him out. This makes it all the more confusing when it comes to why he hasn’t cashed it in yet. You can argue that if he were a truly solo performer, timing is more important than anything. One can’t cash in on a merely half-beaten champion. Rather, you want to cash it in on a completely decimated champion.

One certainly wouldn’t want to cash it in when the champion’s allies are around to save him from losing his title.

Priest, on the other hand, has had Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and Rhea Ripley the entire time he’s held the briefcase. Judgment Day has also added J.D. McDonaugh and even a sprinkle of R-Truth since. He’s had more than enough help to take out a champion. At any point in 2023, after capturing the case, he could have brutalized Seth Rollins with his cast of “evil henchmen” and taken the World Heavyweight Championship for himself. Seriously, he could have done it at any moment, but he hasn’t.

We know that wrestling is scripted entertainment, but in kayfabe, this has made no sense.

Just have the Judgment Day go after the champion at some point. Even if the champion has friends to help him even the numbers, the bruised and battered champ still has to deal with a fresh Damian Priest. That should be enough, and if it’s not, that’s a clear Damian Priest problem.

PRIEST MISSED OUT ON THE BEST OPPORTUNITY TO CASH IN

Honestly, cashing in at WrestleMania would only be the second-best time for a Priest cash in. They had a chance to do so last summer with Seth Rollins and Finn Balor’s feud. This would have opened up many doors for Priest and Judgment Day.

To recap, Rollins and Balor were facing off for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in consecutive PLEs. While Priest teased a cash-in on numerous occasions, he failed to make good on it. Some thought that he did not cash in at some points because of Balor. Finn was the one facing Rollins, so a Priest cash-in would take away Finn’s chance to win gold.

This was such a waste of a storyline.

Cashing in on Rollins if Balor failed to beat him would have created a civil war within The Judgment Day. It would have ultimately led to a feud with Priest and Balor that would have been highly entertaining. WWE could have even elevated Balor, allowing him to beat Rollins and immediately lose his title to Priest. It could have given Priest a huge heel rub. At the same time, it would give Balor the face turn we’ve all needed from him.

Balor is a good heel, but we’ve wanted him to capture a World Championship ever since he lost it years ago. It just hasn’t been the right time. This could have led to a solid Priest/Balor rivalry that could have given Balor the chance to capture something seven years in the making.

Clearly, WWE did not want to do this just yet. Maybe they wanted to end Judgment Day this year and felt it was too soon for this move in 2023. Either way, the kayfabe side of their storyline with Rollins was still nonsensical.

WHY WRESTLEMANIA IS THE LAST GREAT CHANCE

Damian Priest needs to get this done. He shouldn’t pull a Theory and cash in on anyone without a World Championship. That means he should not cash in on Gunther, for example. This would hurt the credibility of the MITB briefcase. He shouldn’t wait until after WrestleMania (though we’d settle for the RAW after WM).

The longer he waits, the more desperate everything looks. He needs to take advantage of the single biggest stage of them all to cash in. Basically, he’d do it on a stage where the world could see him capture gold. Doing it here puts more eyeballs on Priest, as well as Judgment Day too. It helps everyone really.

Several angles will present themselves right away, giving us great new storylines that focus heavily on Priest.

How would Judgment Day feel if Priest held the World Heavyweight Championship? It is hard to say, especially since Balor failed to win it last summer. Would his stroke within Judgment Day change with this title around his waist? If so, he could kick JD out of the faction and even refuse to add in Andrade. Holding a major title gives that person power, even in a group like this where everyone is supposedly even.

Just look at how much power Rhea Ripley seems to have. Could one say that holding gold all year allowed her this power? It’s certainly possible.

DAMIAN PRIEST’S DISTRACTION COULD BE COSTLY:

Priest is currently holding the WWE Undisputed Tag Team Titles with Balor. What if they lose those titles at WrestleMania, yet Damian Priest still ends up winning the World Heavyweight Title? If they do this, we have a built-in perception that Damian was more concerned with his cash-in than retaining the tag team titles.

Heck, they’re already having to compete against 5 other teams in a freakin ladder match for those titles. The fact that they have such a difficult match where they could lose the titles without any drama is bad enough. However, WWE could add in the concept that Priest held back when he did not have to or perhaps helped far less than he normally would have.

He could try and mask that they lost the titles merely because of the match they were part of. There is by no means a pinfall or submission needed to win. There are 5 teams, and ladder matches are a crapshoot. Damian himself could attest to this, as he won that briefcase in one of these match types. One might assume that prepares him for this tag title defense, but it really doesn’t. It merely makes him aware of how hard his job is.

This is why we’d need Judgment Day to get footage to prove how little Priest did in the match or something like that. Basically, holding him accountable for his actions and not letting him get away with it.

The Judgment Day has helped carry RAW for many months. However, it’s clear that the faction has overstayed its welcome. It’s time to move forward and crack the group’s foundation. Putting the championship on Priest and the tag titles changing hands certainly expedites that.

HOW DAMIAN PRIEST SHOULD CASH IN AT WRESTLEMANIA 40

There are several possible scenarios here.

One would be to insert himself into the Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre match midway through. There’s poetic justice here in Rollins losing his World Title the same way he won his first all those years ago. This would also create an interesting situation for McIntyre. He’s been complaining that Rollins is not focused enough on the match. Meanwhile, maybe Drew is too focused on Seth that he forgets to factor in Damian Priest as a potential monkey wrench to this entire thing.

The other would be to wait until Drew has beaten Seth and then take out a wounded Drew or Seth. Maybe even after a CM Punk attack on either one, which could further the eventual and imminent feud between Punk and McIntyre or Punk and Rollins. The issue when it comes to Drew is that it kind of makes him sympathetic, considering he did what he said he would. He also finally had his big moment in front of fans, only for it to be taken from him. That’s probably not what WWE is going for here.

For Seth, a Punk attack and cash-in might make Punk the heel. Without a title on the line, it would mostly become personal between the two. This would be similar to what Seth did with Cody Rhodes when Cody first came back to WWE a few years ago.

There is also a big scenario that could be even bigger.

SETH MUST FACE THE FINAL BOSS:

How do you get the championship onto Damian? You have The Rock do what he has promised to do. That Sunday at WrestleMania, you have Seth retain against a formidable Drew. Then when Rollins is in celebration mode, you have The Rock’s music hit. He sneak attacks Rollins, hitting him with a Rock Bottom & People’s Elbow before calling out Damian Priest & Judgment Day. It would be a plan clearly coordinated ahead of time.

This will allow Rock to make good on his promise to take away the championship. Not that he’d take it from WWE, rather, he’d make good on taking it from Seth.

Now you have Rollins & Rock with some personal business. Maybe they never fight, but it opens the door for that. You also have Rollins taking issue with Cody not having his back, even if the night before Rollins had his. If you think the Seth and Cody feud is over, don’t be naive. It might not happen soon, but it will again.

You also have a simmering issue with The Rock and Triple H. It’s unlikely that these two will ever face off, considering “The Game” retired due to his heart. Yet this at least creates a solid power dynamic that could be fun to watch.

Lastly, it creates a real power issue in The Judgement Day. Having Priest hold the title is one thing. It’s an entirely different thing to hold it after being blessed by the WWE’s most powerful new figure.

Let’s be perfectly clear though….

This cash-in needs to happen at WrestleMania. Anything less feels like a forgotten storyline that WWE failed to finish. This is not what you want if you’re Priest or WWE honestly.