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Damian Priest Beats Sheamus, Wins United States Title at WWE SummerSlam 2021
August 22, 2021
Damian Priest beat Sheamus at WWE SummerSlam on Saturday to win the United States Championship for the first time.
Sheamus' protective mask came off during the course of the match, which was the turning point. Priest connected with a spinning heel kick and then delivered The Reckoning for the victory.
The two men had been at odds for several weeks dating back to Sheamus' feud with Humberto Carrillo, which saw Priest stand up for Carrillo and prevent The Celtic Warrior from taking liberties.
Sheamus attacked Carrillo prior to a U.S. title defense and then successfully defended the championship on the July 12 episode of Raw. When the Irishman tried to add insult to injury afterward, Priest ran him off.
That led to a championship contender match between Priest and Sheamus, which the former won, thus putting himself in line for a future title opportunity.
On the August 9 episode of Raw, after beating John Morrison in a match, Priest got on the mic and ran down Sheamus, calling him a bully and putting him on blast for avoiding defending the United States Championship on multiple occasions.
When The Celtic Warrior interrupted him, Priest laid down the challenge for SummerSlam, and the titleholder accepted.
Sheamus beat Ricochet in a match on that same episode of Raw by using the mask to his advantage, but when he tried to attack The One and Only afterward, Priest again foiled his plan and knocked him out of the ring.
With Sheamus growing tired of The Archer of Infamy meddling in his affairs, they clashed on a major stage at SummerSlam and showed why they are widely regarded as two of the toughest and most physical Superstars in WWE.
Aside from his tag team match with Bad Bunny at WrestleMania 37, Saturday's contest was perhaps the biggest of Priest's career, whereas Sheamus had the edge in experience having fought for the world title multiple times.
Despite Sheamus' advantage in terms of competing in big matches, it was Priest who came away with the U.S. Championship, marking his first title win on the main roster.
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