9 months ago
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At WWE WrestleMania Backlash 2021, Damien Priest and the Miz participated in a bizarre lumberjack match involving zombies. Some fans and critics panned the bout, but Priest reflected back on it positively in a recent interview with Inside the Ropes.
"I knew the feedback, what it was going to be. It's hard when you do something different. You know, people are accustomed to one way, and some are open to change, but most aren't, just in general what it is. For me personally, fighting zombies was one of the coolest things I've ever done. I'm a big zombie fan, like zombie movies and everything," Priest said. "I loved Army of the Dead, so for me, when I was fighting zombies, this was pretty cool. I know people disagree with me, but they weren't in my shoes at the moment."
The zombie lumberjack match was booked to promote former WWE star Dave Bautista's movie "Army of the Dead" movie, which Zack Snyder directed for Netflix. Priest won the match, and afterward, the Miz was attacked by the zombies, who were serving as lumberjacks.
AEW did something similar with a death match to promote the "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" video game, which was recently released, and obviously took cues from the Priest/Miz match. The match featured Karen Jarrett being attacked by a facsimile of Leatherface, grisly set dressing, and Jeff Jarrett being doused in fake blood. Although some fans felt disillusioned by the obvious tie-ins with film and video games, Priest looks back fondly.
