WWE Superstar Grayson Waller is known for his controversial heel persona on screen. It seems that he carries that personality even outside the ring. A few months ago, he made headlines after a tense movement during his appearance on an Australian morning show. This happened when he got involved in an exchange with a TV crew member. The incident happened when a crew member jokingly said that he would take a punch from a wrestler. This really set off Waller and made him visibly angry.
Waller recently appeared on “Insight with Chris Van Vliet,” where he spoke about this incident. The Aussie wrestler said that his response was filled with frustration. He said that he would not take any kind of disrespect towards his profession. Later, he did admit that part of his response was meant to be playful. His response ended up unintentionally frightening the crew.
“I hate when people disrespect what we do and treat it as a joke…Sometimes when you do these morning TV… they’re doing 16 interviews a day, they don’t know who anyone is, like I understand why it happened…“When they turned off the cameras they were terrified, they were like ‘Is everything okay?’ I was like ‘Yeah, I’m good. I was having fun.”
Grayson Waller via Insight
Despite the anger being an act, Waller explained the importance of respect for the work done by professional wrestlers. Many fans seemed to agree and said that his frustration is valid. The frustration seems to be a reflection of what wrestlers feel when people often undervalue and don’t appreciate their hard work. There is a lot that wrestlers put their bodies through to entertain the fans.
The former Tag Team Champion just wanted to make sure that wrestlers get the respect they deserve. Waller, who plays a villainous role inside the ring, played a very heroic role for all the wrestlers around the world in this matter. He does not want any kind of bad name or disrespect towards professional wrestling.
Grayson Waller reveals his inspiration for joining WWE
In the same interview, Grayson Waller revealed his inspirations that led him to pursue a career in WWE. Many wrestlers grow up idealizing legends like Hulk Hogan and John Cena. However, Waller had a totally different source of inspiration growing up. Instead of typical male icons, he was inspired by fellow Australians, particularly women wrestlers.
Peyton Royce and Billie Kay were revealed to be his inspirations. Before seeing them in WWE, he said that he did not even know about Australian Independence wrestling. He even attended the same wrestling school as them in Australia. Waller said before their success, he didn’t believe that Australians could make it to WWE.
It didn’t seem like a possibility. But then when I saw Peyton [Royce] and Billie [Kay] get on NXT, they were from the same school as me….“I think Rhea’s the one who really cemented it. Like, I met her just before she left, and then she was doing such big things. I think she showed the rest of Australia, ‘Hey, this is possible.,’”
Grayson Waller via Insight
Despite all this, he gave the most credit to Rhea Ripley. He said that watching Rhea make waves in WWE ignited a spark in him while solidifying his vision to make it big. Waller feels that there is a big opportunity for Australian wrestlers in the future to break out and be at the forefront of WWE.
