WWE injury update: R-Truth confirms he’s ok and will be back after SmackDown match stoppage, what next for Damian Priest until his rival returns?

WWE

Over one month on from Damian Priest backstabbing him and breaking up their popular tag team, R-Truth got his chance for revenge this past Friday on WWE SmackDown (October 16), when the pair faced off one-on-one.

Unfortunately the grudge match came to a premature end when Truth seemingly suffered an injury upon landing from a top rope dropkick attempt, which resulted in the referee calling a halt to the contest.

While details regarding his exact injury aren’t yet known, Truth did take to Twitter today (October 19) to confirm that he’s doing “ok” after the incident.

Along with a picture of himself at the hospital, Truth wrote:

“I AM OK, Thank you ALL for your support, concerns and get well wishes , Wow, It truly feels amazing to feel and be loved I’m grateful for you all.

“…On 10/16/2026 I almost passed away… Damien Priest tried to kill me,, I didn’t think he was ThAt serious…

“But ok, l’ll be back”

While we await further news regarding Truth’s status, the question now will be what does WWE do with Damian Priest until his rivalry makes a return?

Having “The Archer of Infamy” simply hang back and wait until Truth is fit won’t be too big of a deal if his rival’s absence is only a few weeks long, but any more than that and WWE would risk further cooling off Priest’s heel run before it’s got going.

With that in mind, here are some alternative plans WWE could book for Damian Priest during R-Truth’s absence:

Pick up wins over Nathan Frazer & Axiom

Without Nathan Frazer & Axiom rushing to R-Truth’s aid after his match with Damian Priest got called off the veteran star’s injury may have been a lot worse off.

Realistically, this should make the pair Priest’s prime target in Truth’s absence, and given that whatever plans WWE had may have to be delayed or scrapped entirely, a pivot to a short feud with Fraxiom seems like the most logical move for the former World Heavyweight Champion.

Priest picking up fairly straight forward wins against both Frazer and Axiom will only help his raise his stock before he moves on to bigger things.

Targets United States Champion Trick Williams

Trick Williams is very much focused on Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn at the moment, but this focus may result in him losing sight of the title he already has in his possession.

With his feud with Baron Corbin finished, and Carmelo Hayes now on Raw with the 946, “Trick Willy” is in need of a new heel rival for his United States Title; a spot that Damian Priest could certainly fill.

Priest winning the US Title could allow him to take the title into his eventual feud with Truth, as well as free up Trick to enter the main event picture full-time.

Move back to Raw to get involved with Judgment Day business

Many fans have grown tired of The Judgment Day in its current form, hence why they were so desperate to see Roxanne Perez become Ms. Money in the Bank.

While “The Prodigy” potentially cashing in her briefcase on Liv Morgan would have provided a lot of intrigue, there are other ways WWE could make the group more interesting.

Now that Damian Priest is a heel again there’s little stopping WWE from having him cross paths with his old faction once again, and potentially even rejoin them.

This would involve a move to Raw for Priest, and likely spell the end of his feud with R-Truth, but long-term it would be a much more interesting direction for his character, and give Judgment Day some well needed extra reinforcements on the male side of their group.

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• wwe
• Smackdown
• R-Truth
• Damian Priest

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