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Grayson Waller: Disrespecting Triple H, Austin Theory, John Cena Promo, Australian WrestleMania
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Grayson Waller (@GraysonWWE) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Brooklyn, NY to discuss how he went from being a school teacher to being a WWE Superstar, becoming a tag team with Austin Theory, winning the Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 40 and disrespecting Triple H afterwards, his in-ring interaction with John Cena in London, why he doesn't want a UK WrestleMania, if an Australian WrestleMania could ever happen, his talk show segment appearance that went viral, what happened when the cameras stopped rolling and more!
Quote I'm thinking about: "In a world where you can be anything — be kind." - Unknown
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"I'm good at what I do, and I was wrestling at the time when I did Survivor, independent wrestling in Australia. But I'd watched enough wrestling and done enough that I knew what I was doing when I went on the show. I know how to get eyes on me and how to make sure that people are paying attention on the show to me. It's always funny that people will make comments about wrestling not being real, but the emotion is every time when you're really upset at me about something I've said or done, it means I've done my job pretty good."
"There’s so many. I think also it kind of depends on the person too, the level of the person. I can say really mean things to some random fan, that is what it is, that still makes me really happy. There was one guy, there's a video online of us, me and Theory, pulled up to a show in the snow in a convertible with the top down. He was like, 'Hey, Grayson, you called me fat in Green Bay.' I looked up, and I was like, 'And you got fatter since the last time I saw you.' So it's just little natural lines like that. There's none that really stick out. But when you get to say really mean things to a John Cena or Shawn Michaels, that hits a little bit different because it's a little bit harder to have to say that someone's face is, someone who is very respected in the industry. But that's when I have the most fun."
"Nathan Jones dude! Nathan Jones fell over at WrestleMania, that's who I want to be. But it's true, and I guess maybe that's a reason I didn't start training so early. I didn't really watch any Australian independent wrestling. I didn't know it existed. I just saw WWE then I got into Ring of Honor, CZW Chikara, real random American indie wrestling and I rarely saw Australians. There'd be one or two here or there, but it didn't seem like a possibility. But then when I saw Peyton and Billy get on NXT, they're from the same school as me, then I was like, Oh, wow. They came back and did a little seminar, I'm like, It's possible. I think Rhea is the one who really cemented it, I'd 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. And that opened the door. Then you get Bronson, you got Indi there already. You had TMDK doing really good stuff before they left. There's so many people. And in the now, I think the Australians are saying, hey, it's possible, there's people there, and now we're going to properly take over."
"So I was basically a substitute, but a full-time substitute. So I went every day, but I wanted to stay subbing because if I had a show on a Friday or Thursday, I wanted to just be able [to say] I'm not going to work today. I have a wrestling show, but then I'd get a little bit of full-time gigs here or there. But I was a history teacher. I taught pretty much anything they needed me."
"Yeah, I would say so. In some sense, I enjoy teaching, and especially history, I love history. So I will try and make it at least fun for the kids, because I know how it is to sit in the classroom and have a teacher just talk to you for two hours and you don't care about anything they said. So I did my best to at least make it fun try and tell them stories. I guess it got me ready for crowds because there's no one more brutal in the classroom than high school kids. So there's no crowd in America that can say worse things than those high school kids try to say to me."
"I think we're just two incredibly good-looking, humble dudes, and they're like, this is gonna work. But me and Theory, we met each other a few times before I got called up, but we just got along really well straight away. We have similar mindsets when it comes to the business, too. So we did a few little things together, and I was just like we're both here to be great, and we're not going to let anyone get in our way, and we're going to work hard for it too. So when we started working together a bit, then we started traveling more, and we had this the same schedule, hey, we got to wake up early because we've got to get to the gym, like all those type of things. So we have similar mindsets. And it just kind of worked. I don't think it was a long-term plan, but it's one of those things that just worked so well that it stuck."
"And because we shoot didn't know what they look like either. I had my acting skills ready so if these suck I'm going to be so happy to receive these sucky belts. But then they showed it to us, when we revealed it, and they were awesome. I think it's just enough old school where you're looking at those almost Ruthless Aggression Raw Tag Title mixed in a little bit of new flare, it's perfect. And we're the first ones to hold that. Doesn't matter who has it now, we were the first ones, and no one can take that from us."
"I think I have a problem with authority. Maybe I don't like DX in my former life. I don't know, but there's just something so fun about such a serious moment and not taking it seriously. I think everyone's just so respectful these days, it kind of makes me sick in a way. I think people are too respectful, especially of legends and people in the game. ‘We’ve done a lot of great things.’ Yeah, that's awesome but this is my time now. I'm not going to sit here and, oh, thank you, sir. Thank you so much for the opportunity, especially on TV."
"If I had to put this list two years ago when I first got The Grayson Waller Effect, and it's Cena, Cody, Shawn, Logan, the Mount Rushmore basically, that would be great. I've always said the dream guest is Trish Stratus, and I've been saying it multiple times, and unfortunately, hasn't happened yet. I'm going to keep saying it. Trish, come on, please be on my show. Let me give you the Grayson Waller rub. I just really respect her as a performer, and I've always liked her for so long. So that's always my answer, and until it happens I can't really give another answer. There's so many legends, I feel like the legends are really coming backstage a lot more now recently. I don't know if it was different in the past, but like, every pay-per-view, there's just all the guys and girls from the past there. They're super excited. So hopefully I can get some of them involved as well."
"I hate when people disrespect what we do and treat it as a joke. Sometimes, you know wrestling enough that we can sit here and have a conversation. You understand what I've gone through, you understand what you've gone through, it's a good conversation. But sometimes, when you do these morning TV they're doing 16 interviews a day, they don't know who anyone is. I understand why it happened, but it was when the sound guy, or whatever, came up and like, I'll take a punch and did his little thing. It's like, you don't realize what we do. And I was like, Okay. Part of it was me being like, I'm gonna have some fun with this, and it terrified them. When they turned off the cameras, they were terrified about, is everything okay? And I was like, Yeah, I'm good, I was having fun. They didn't know that. But I think it's something that we need to protect what we do. And it's just like if someone's so disrespectful to your face I'm not going to sit there and take it. I'm not going to hit him, this isn't the 1980s where you prove a point that way. I wish we could because then I think a lot of people would change their opinion on what we do when you feel what it is. Because when I'm in there and I'm wrestling Kevin Owens, he's giving me a Swanton, man that sucks. That's not a fun move, so I just wanted him to respect what I did a little bit more. They don't know what wrestling is. They're not fans, so they're just doing what they think wrestling is. So I get, but I think we've come far enough. I think it was also because I was in Australia, I flown home for two days. This is like 30 hours of travel to come here and basically do this show and I'm coming here to do this for you. You're not doing anything for me, I'm doing way bigger things over in the States. So I think it was just like a whole multitude of being tired from the flight and just getting off that flight and going, sitting there and LA Kight sitting there, just laughing to himself. He got out of it scot-free."
"No, I’m a professional. I can sit here and act all tough, like, oh yeah, I would have choked him out. No, I wouldn't. That's not what we do. We're trained to be good at what we do, and we're not going to do that on members of the public. But I would have gotten his face and told him what I thought of him. I think that's as far as it goes, because you can't react the same way as people have in the past. We've seen how that went, didn't go great for Hogan. Didn't go great for David Schultz. So I don't want myself on that list."
"The weird thing is, and I've talked about it before, I was coming off breaking my leg against Melo. I got cleared maybe two weeks before, but we were in London for a bit, and then we did something else, I'd had maybe an hour in the ring. So I've been cleared, I had one hour, and then I was going to do the talk show with Edge, and all of a sudden, I find out the night before that I'm wrestling him. That's stressful because I don't even know if I can wrestle, I haven't really done anything on my leg. That's the first time I've really felt the pressure and felt nervous, and usually I don't. But then I watched a bunch of clips of McGregor in MSG, fighting Eddie Alvarez, watched all the videos for the entrance, and just like his vibe, I watched the fight like three times, and all of a sudden I was feeling myself. And I was like, You, what are you going to do? Not do it. And then from that moment, I felt completely comfortable, and the match went great, and I came backstage and I could barely walk. My leg wasn't as good as it needed to be, but I got through it, and now I'm very glad that I went in with that type of energy. And like to get in there with Edge who is one of the best of all time, and to do it in that kind of venue is very cool."
"That’s not something he has to do. As much as I'm the kind of guy who doesn't want to kiss ass of the legends, my way of saying thank you to them, is saying really horrible things and going at them, I want to be on your level. I feel that's the biggest respect I can give you is coming at you like everyone else, like, I don't want to sit back, but little things like that, at the time, it didn't mean as much as it does now. Now I look back and go, that was, that was pretty cool."
"If I have to be honest, no. Australia, I'm sorry it's not going to happen. The time zone is rough, and I get that. WrestleMania is such a big show, it's our showcase, and we want the most eyes on it. I think in Australia, that would be a very difficult process to have, especially flying everything down, it's a big effort, but I think having Elimination Chamber there is massive. I don't think people realize how massive it was. That's the show that sets up WrestleMania. All the things that happen on that show set up the biggest show of the year. So for me, I don't think WrestleMania is ever going to be in Australia. Would I love it to happen? Obviously, it would mean the world to me, but I'm realistic, and I think Australia has the opportunity to have way more big shows. I've heard some whispers that, you know, we might be heading back somewhat soonish. And I think I'd rather have a stand-alone and be like, Hey, this is Australia, and this is what we do. We have so many Aussies in WWE right now that, we could almost fill a show with Australians. We got Zaria just turned up now too, with Rhea, with Duke, with Bronson, with Indi, with me, like that's almost a full card."
"My mates, Austin Theory and that I have an Australian accent."
