Grayson Waller believes WWE completely missed the point of who he was on the main roster. The current NXT Champion says the company reduced him to a silly talk-show host with a funny accent instead of allowing him to show the dangerous version that first made him a star in NXT.
During an appearance on Busted Open After Dark, Waller admitted that returning to NXT reminded him what he could do. He had gone two years without being handed a live microphone on WWE television outside of Netflix commercial breaks, and the lack of opportunity took a serious toll on him.
“I hate to admit this, but when I came back that night, I’d never been more nervous, which is crazy for me. Talking right now, I can talk, man. This is easy. This is what I do. I’d never been more nervous because I felt like my soul was taken. I didn’t have a live mic for two years besides Netflix breaks. I didn’t have a live microphone for two years on TV, so I’d forgotten what I could do.”
Waller said something clicked during his first major promo back in NXT. Once he started talking, he remembered exactly why the microphone had once been one of his greatest weapons.
“There was a moment in that promo where I remember thinking, ‘Oh, dude, this is easy. This is what I do.’ Being back here reminded me who I am.”
Bully Ray asked whether Waller had planned what he wanted to say or whether the promo came directly from years of bottled-up frustration. Waller said he had been waiting two years to get those words out.
“I’ve known what I wanted to say for two years. These are things that I’ve felt for a long time, and I understand how the main roster works. Not everyone can get a chance every week, but I know me, and I don’t think they ever showed who I am.”
Waller then unloaded on how WWE presented him. He said the company treated him like a joke and never appeared to understand the performer it had seen during his original NXT run.
“I was a joke. I was a talk-show host, a silly guy. They’d never watched NXT. I don’t think they knew who I am. I’m the best talker in WWE. Talk Roman, talk Punk, talk all of them. I do this naturally. I’m Australian, lad. I was born doing banter. This is easy. We could do this for an hour. I’ll keep talking. I’ll keep trash-talking everyone. This is easy.”
According to Waller, WWE only recognized the comedy surrounding his presentation. He believes the company saw the accent and jokes but missed the more serious personality underneath them.
“They didn’t know that. They didn’t see that side of me. They just thought I was silly. ‘Oh, he has a funny accent.’ But now I’m getting the chance to show who Grayson Waller is.”
Waller also rejected the idea that the person viewers now see in NXT is simply another wrestling character. He said his television personality reflects how he speaks and behaves when the cameras aren’t rolling.
“This is me. People talk about character—I ain’t a character. Anyone who knows me knows I’ll say the same things to your face off camera that I say to you behind the scenes. This is who I am, and I’m just so happy that I’m finally getting to show it.”
The NXT Champion said his return promo wasn’t carefully manufactured to win support online. It was him finally unloading after years of frustration, including a period when he hated what his career had become.
“That night, it was just me venting. I’m not a little mark who goes on Twitter and tries to start a hashtag to get people to support me because I don’t care what the fans think. I care what I think. I care what I think about myself, and I hated myself for a long time.”
Waller admitted that his main-roster struggles reached a point where he could barely look at himself because he no longer recognized the wrestler staring back.
“It was tough looking in the mirror, Bully. I’m sure you’ve been there at one stage of your career, where you forget who you are. You look back and you can’t even look at yourself because you’re like, ‘Who are you? What have you done with yourself? You used to be someone.’”
Waller isn’t hiding how badly his main-roster run damaged his confidence. WWE made him the funny guy with a talk show, then left one of its strongest talkers without a live microphone for two years. Now he has the NXT Championship, the freedom to speak and a point to prove to everyone who only saw him as a joke.
Do you think WWE wasted Grayson Waller by leaning too heavily into comedy during his main-roster run? 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.
