Add as a preferred source on Google Exactly five years ago, on May 16, 2021, WWE delivered one of the most bizarre segments in its recent history at WrestleMania Backlash, during the rivalry between Damian Priest and The Miz.
At the event, Priest faced Miz in a Lumberjack Match, but the usual wrestlers surrounding the ring were replaced by zombies as a promotional tie-in for Army of the Dead, the movie starring Batista.
During the match, The Miz and John Morrison tried to escape several times, but were stopped by the horde. Morrison ended up being “devoured” first, distracting Miz and opening the door for Priest to hit Hit the Lights and win the match.
5 years ago today,
— J O H N (@RomanEra0) May 16, 2026
The Miz and John Morrison were being eaten by zombies.
Fun fact Bron Breakker was one of the zombies pic.twitter.com/wz2eQZxTJb
After the match was over, Miz was also surrounded by the zombies in the middle of the ring, closing out one of the most remembered — and criticized — moments of the ThunderDome era.
The big fun fact is that some of the zombies were WWE Performance Center talents. Among them was Bronson Rechsteiner, who would debut in NXT months later under the name Bron Breakker.
In addition to Breakker, names such as Joe Gacy, Xyon Quinn, Ikemen Jiro, Jake Atlas, Ari Sterling and even Scotty 2 Hotty also took part in the scene, all unrecognizable under the makeup.