Grayson Waller’s TNA name-drop didn’t just get wrestling fans talking. It briefly made Matt Hardy wonder if WWE was about to pull off another surprise crossover.
Speaking on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy, the TNA veteran admitted his first reaction wasn’t that Waller was simply taking a cheap shot at another promotion. Instead, his mind immediately went to something much bigger. Was WWE quietly setting the table for more business with TNA?
“It’s interesting because my initial thought was like, ‘Oh, are they setting up to like do something again? Like work together? Did they have him just throw that out because they’re going to do some TNA business or whatever?'”
Hardy even admitted he did some digging after the promo. What he found, though, wasn’t enough to convince him there was actually a crossover in the works.
“I’ve done a little digging into this and I’m not sure what the deal is. I’m not sure if they are or not.”
Whether there was a hidden message or not, Hardy thinks Waller accomplished the one thing every great heel is trying to do. Get people talking. Mission accomplished.
“I think more than anything else, he was just trying to do just what he was trying to create buzz and get people to talk about it, much like we’re talking about it right here. So it worked for him in that capacity.”
And from Hardy’s point of view, TNA wins either way. Even if Waller’s comments were meant as an insult, Hardy says hearing TNA mentioned on WWE television is never a bad thing for the promotion.
“Actually, when it’s all said and done, anytime TNA is mentioned on this show, it’s never a bad thing for us.”
His co-host, John Alba, admitted the line caught him off guard because TNA is currently working with WWE, saying it almost felt strange to see a partner promotion become the target of a heel promo.
Hardy saw it differently. To him, the context mattered. Waller was playing a villain, the segment got fans arguing, and TNA’s name ended up being discussed across the wrestling world. That’s valuable exposure no matter how the reference was delivered.
“Yeah. I also thought it was pretty interesting how he was at NXT doing it… he was calling Austin Theory… I was like…”
The comments came just days after Waller’s explosive return to NXT, where he ripped into Austin Theory, mocked TNA, took shots at Tony D’Angelo and the locker room, then kept talking even after production cut his microphone and eventually went to commercial. The promo quickly became one of the week’s biggest talking points, drawing praise from both John Cena and CM Punk.
Now Hardy has added his own perspective—and while he isn’t convinced Waller was secretly teasing another WWE-TNA collaboration, he believes the outspoken Australian achieved exactly what he set out to do. He got the wrestling world talking.
Do you think Grayson Waller was simply playing the perfect heel, or did you also wonder if the TNA reference was hinting at something bigger? Let us know in the comments below.
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