Grayson Waller has never exactly tried to make friends with wrestling fans, but the NXT crowd apparently holds a special place in his heart — for all the wrong reasons. In fact, Waller says insulting those fans is one of his favorite parts of showing up every week.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Waller was asked about how much fun he seems to have whenever he gets into it with people in the crowd. Waller immediately singled out NXT fans, calling them “fat flops” before remembering one particular fan who gave him the perfect setup for an insult.
“Especially the — I hate the NXT audience. I love interacting with them. A bunch of fat flops. You can smell them. Like, it’s heavy.
“There was that one brother, one of my favorite lines, where I said, ‘You look like you can get Chick-fil-A on a Sunday.’ And he could. He could. He might.
“But the problem is he might just get it Saturday and leave it out. Like, he wouldn’t refrigerate it. He’d just have it sitting there.”
That wasn’t even Waller’s favorite time he ruined somebody’s night. He recalled doing commentary with Austin Theory when a kid sitting behind them wouldn’t stop yelling, so Waller decided to hit him with something personal during the commercial break.
“That was a pretty good one. The one where the kid was the most upset was me and Theory did commentary one night, and there was a kid behind us yelling.
“And when we were on break, I turned around and I said, ‘You’ve got the same haircut as your mom.’ And he did. It was like a little bob, and the realization on his face that it was right — like, I’ve never seen anything like it. He just sat down, and he was so upset.
“And that made me really happy. Like, don’t — if you yell at me, I can yell back. That’s part of what this wrestling is like on the NXT shows. When there’s no cameras around, I can tell you exactly what you look like. And that’s a beautiful thing.”
Van Vliet then brought up another viral Waller moment involving a young girl sitting ringside. Waller offered to let her touch the NXT Championship before yanking it away, but he somehow remembers the whole thing as a pretty “wholesome interaction.”
Waller explained that he actually enjoys giving fans those kinds of memories because it’s his version of the experience a babyface might provide by taking pictures or giving hugs. He just prefers making kids believe ridiculous stories and then being a complete jerk to them.
“I thought that was quite a wholesome interaction. You know, she was asking why I was there, which was confusing. Maybe her mom isn’t smart, didn’t teach her, like, ‘Hey, we’re at wrestling to watch wrestlers.’
“But I love that video, and I’m so glad someone got it because in the moment it was so fun telling her that Mason Rook ate my dad, and her genuinely going, ‘Really?’ Like, it was so much fun.
“Sometimes those interactions we have with fans — because, you know, as a good guy, what do you do? You go hug them, you take a photo, you do the Cody Rhodes, everyone in the arena gets a photo. That’s great.
“But for guys like me who don’t like the fans, I think we can still give them an experience that they can go home and think about, or something they can go home and, like, in ten years go, ‘I remember when this wrestler said this to me.’”
For Waller, that’s actually the entire point. He doesn’t want to suddenly pretend he loves everybody just so someone can get a nice moment with him, and he’d rather give them something memorable while staying completely true to his character.
“I enjoy that I can give them an experience without it being a fake experience to show that I’m a nice guy.”
Austin Theory apparently doesn’t always share that philosophy. Van Vliet remembered seeing Theory stop to take pictures with fans when he and Waller arrived at an arena together, only for Waller to start pulling his tag team partner away.
Waller admitted Theory was simply trying to do the right thing, but that doesn’t mean he was interested in joining him. He appreciates fans supporting wrestling, but he also believes some of them disrespect what wrestlers do — and once again, he saved his biggest shot for the NXT crowd.
“He’s trying to do the right thing. He’s trying to be the team player. ‘I’ll take the photos with the fans.’ But it’s like, why? That’s not what we’re here for.
“It’s a fun interaction. Well, that’s not why I’m there. I know that there’s other people who do that. I’m here for me. I’m a selfish guy.
“So I’m glad the fans are there. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. But also certain fans disrespect what we do a lot. They don’t get it.
“Especially the NXT fans. They’ll chop and change who they like. They just want to do their silly dance for whatever girl comes out because they’ve never actually talked to a girl before.
“So that NXT audience is tough to deal with and going out there every week, but it’s what I’ve got to do as the face of the brand.”
Waller clearly understands that getting under people’s skin is part of what makes him work, and he doesn’t see any reason to turn that off once the cameras stop rolling. If an NXT fan decides to start something with him from the crowd, they’d better be ready for Waller to give it right back.
What do you make of Grayson Waller’s approach to interacting with the NXT crowd? 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.
