Bad Bunny Beats Damian Priest In Star-Studded Street Fight

Bad Bunny defeated Damian Priest in a match marketed as one-half of a double main event, with the show-closing main event being Brock Lesnar vs. Cody Rhodes.

Bad Bunny walked out to “Chambea” to a nuclear babyface reaction as fans sang along word-for-word to his 2017 hit. The match featured several cameos from Judgment Day (minus Rhea Ripley), Savio Vega and former WWE Superstar Carlito, who received a tremendous pop.

Puerto Rican native and megastar Bad Bunny was announced for WWE’s rare Puerto Rican show, which was its second since 2005.

Bad Bunny is no stranger to WWE storylines as he overachieved in a very good tag team match against The Miz and John Morrison at WrestleMania 37. In his in-ring debut, Bad Bunny teamed with Damian Priest, but this time around, Benito found himself pit against his brethren in a San Juan Street Fight.

Regardless of the winner, Bad Bunny vs. Damian Priest was set to further a recent trend of WWE Superstars losing in their home countries. Though Priest was in his home country, he was a massive heel compared to the beloved Bad Bunny. As WWE continues to hold international Premium Live Events in the Nick Khan Era, these events have also been synonymous with hometown heroes doing the honors on their home turf.

Scottish top star Drew McIntyre, who reportedly may be on his way out of WWE, suffered a crushing defeat against Roman Reigns at WWE Clash at the Castle back in September of 2022. Five months later, it was Sami Zayn’s turn as the piping-hot Canadian came up short against Reigns in his home country of Montreal.

Domestically, Cody Rhodes suffered a shocking defeat at WrestleMania 39, and while it was not in his hometown of Marietta, Ga., the deflating loss in front of a crowd thirsty for change certainly felt like it. Prior to Priest losing in his home country, Zelina Vega—the only Puerto Rican woman on the WWE roster—lost as a massive underdog to Rhea Ripley just one match prior.

For full-time WWE Superstars, winning in your home country is like Michael Jordan in Game 7 of the NBA Finals: it pretty much doesn’t exist.

After being the only member of the Judgment Day to not have a WrestleMania match, Damian Priest got his reprieve against the biggest streaming artist in the world in one of WWE’s biggest international events in history. WWE reportedly received $1.8 million in Puerto Rican tourism subsidies to host Backlash as live event revenue continues to produce a huge haul for the already historically lucrative promotion. With WWE recently being acquired by Endeavor, which specializes in the live event experience, WWE’s already strong live event business could somehow become stronger.

WWE’s next three Premium Live Events will be held on three different continents, with Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia, Money in the Bank in London and WWE SummerSlam in Detroit, Mich. SummerSlam recently surpassed 40,000 tickets sold in what is expected to be a complete sellout.