Grayson Waller wasn’t just talking trash when he called the NXT roster “soft, lazy and complacent.” He says he’s watched way too many wrestlers waste their shot in WWE, and some of the current NXT talent might be heading down the exact same road.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Waller was asked whether his comments were aimed at anyone in particular. Waller said it wasn’t necessarily about one specific person, but after spending years around NXT, he’s seen plenty of people screw up their opportunity and only realize how good they had it once they were gone.
“It wasn’t necessarily just that roster either. I’ve been at NXT for a long time. I’m always around. I can’t tell you the amount of guys who have left NXT after they kind of fumbled the ball and didn’t work hard and all that, and go, ‘Man, I wish I really locked in when I was there. Oh, that was such a cool opportunity.’
“What? So, for the NXT kids now, I’ve seen 15 versions of each of you come and go. I know how this is. I know how cutthroat it is. Especially now, you’ve got six months and you better be able to wrestle, and in a year you better be able to have a great TV match. That’s insane timing.
“So I’m saying these things to help you. I need you to know, like, you could be a millionaire. You could literally change your whole life, but you just think this is a fun joke. You think this is silly. You’re just half-assing it, and it frustrates me because I know how much I’m working my ass off.
“And John Cena’s going to do the John Cena classic about one of you idiots, and you are going to get a match, or they’re going to bring you up on Saturday Night’s Main Event. Like, why are you getting something that I should get?
“So I want to tell them to their face, like, if you don’t aim up, you are not going to be here. And that sucks. That’s tough. And some of them took it on board, some of them didn’t understand it. But I meant those words. I can see faces right now, and if they think I’m talking about them, I probably am.”
Waller also thinks some wrestlers arrive at the Performance Center without fully understanding just how big the opportunity actually is. A college athlete can suddenly get an Instagram DM from WWE, show up for a tryout and find themselves inside the system without having spent years chasing wrestling beforehand.
That doesn’t mean Waller thinks every college athlete takes it for granted. He specifically brought up Kelani Jordan and Kendal Grey, with Jordan getting praise for falling in love with wrestling and showing that passion after getting her opportunity.
“Yeah, because they got an Instagram DM asking to try out. Which, like, you just finished your college career and WWE’s saying, ‘You want to come try out?’ That’s awesome.
“And then they come in, they do the tryout, it’s kind of fun, and then they get to the Performance Center. And then some of them take it seriously. Like, one great example, Kelani Jordan. She fell in love with this. I don’t know if she was a fan before, but now she loves this, and you can see it in the passion. Kendal Grey.”
Then there’s the other problem Waller sees — everybody apparently thinks they’re ready for RAW or SmackDown. Waller previously claimed 90% of the NXT roster thinks they could get called up tomorrow, while only 10% are actually ready for it.
Waller says those wrestlers have no idea how different life becomes once they leave NXT. He compared NXT to college because coaches are constantly there to help, while the main roster can basically throw you into the deep end and see whether you sink or swim.
“Yeah, dude. That’s such a good line.
“The issue with NXT for a while is everyone thinks they should be called up immediately. They all think they’re ready. They don’t understand what the main roster is, and they don’t even think…
“It’s night and day. Like I always say, NXT is college. They take care of you. They do everything for you. They hold your hand. They’re like, ‘This is the match.’ They help you out so much because you don’t know what you’re doing.
“Main roster? All right, go. And you can see people who, like, there’s such a differentiation between them from NXT to the main roster because once they’re on their own, they don’t know what to do.
“So part of that is I’m trying to tell you, like, you are not ready. You’ll get swallowed up there. You’ll have two weeks in catering and freak out and then fumble the ball.
“So part of that was me telling them, like, ‘Hey, stay down here. This is fun. This is a great experience. You’ve got the greatest coaches in the world. Get better at this. Be really good.’
“And then do what Oba did or what Trick did, you know, the guys who have really succeeded from that position.”
So yeah, Waller knows telling people they’re lazy and going to get swallowed up probably isn’t the nicest pep talk in the world. But he’s watched enough people come through NXT, blow their chance and regret it later, and he’d rather tell the current roster to wake up now than watch them make the same mistake.
Do you think Grayson Waller has a point about some NXT talent wanting a WWE main roster call-up before they’re actually ready? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
