Grayson Waller on He Felt He Was Going To Be Released After New Day’s WWE Departure, Getting Valuable Advice From Roman Reigns To Alter His Appearance, His Move To NXT Being Risky But Wanted To Prove A Lot To WWE Officials, & More

A recent episode of the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast featured NXT champion Grayson Waller as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Waller’s thoughts about how he feels he is ready now more than ever to pursue the WWE Championship for his WWE career due to him revamping his persona and now being perceived as a serious competitor.

“100% (aspire to be WWE Champion now). I think now I’ve established myself as a different person. Now I’m taking things seriously. I’m ticking a lot of the boxes that weren’t ticked for a long time. So when I do come back to the main roster, I hope they’re ready for what I’m bringing, because I see a gap. I see a gap in the market for a guy like Grayson Waller.”

Waller also gave his thoughts about how he had felt that WWE would release him after New Day had left the company and his squash match loss to Oba Femi on a WWE RAW show earlier this year.

“100% (thought would be released). I could feel it, especially when the New Day left. I could feel it because when the New Day left, Oba destroyed me. He’s a very big man, very strong, and just beaten Lesnar. So I think he was very confident going into that match. Maybe I wasn’t prepared enough for Oba Femi, but then when I didn’t do anything for like another month, was not a great position to be in. I’m smart enough to know; I’m not going to pretend. I’m real enough to know.

I know I have a lot of value to the company, but in that position, there’s other people who could also add that value. So I had to do something because I’m not going to sit back and let my dream disappear. If I didn’t do something about it, that would upset me if I didn’t do something.”

Waller also gave his thoughts about the valuable advice he received from Roman Reigns that played a big role in his decision to alter his look and how Reigns complimented him stating it made him look like a champion.

“I look back and I kind of understand why people would have perceived me as a joke. For me, the boxing shorts were always I was a huge boxing fan. A lot of people think it was basketball shorts, but I thought it was a different look. It made me look unique, but I think it also didn’t make me look like a serious contender for the championship. So that was something where I was like, I need to change things up. I can’t just keep giving them the same thing. So first thing was I put the tights on, and actually the Rumble was the first time I kind of wore them in a match, and Roman came up and pulled me aside and said, ‘Hey, that’s the look. You look like a champion now.’

Hey, if Roman says that, all right, lad, whatever you need, I’m gonna keep the pants. But even coming back to NXT, I was like, I can’t walk out with the leopard shirts and all that. That vibe didn’t work. That’s an old me. So now, I am more serious. This is me. I feel comfortable now. So I think I had to change things because if you keep throwing the same thing at the wall and it’s not working, then what are you doing?”

Waller also gave his thoughts about how Shawn Michaels had requested to meet with him and pitched the idea of him returning to the NXT brand.

“I don’t see it as that because I wasn’t told to do anything. I was asked. I was given an option by Shawn, and I chose to go and do that. So I didn’t look at it as a demotion because I’m on TV every week. I’m competing every week against some of the best kids in the world right now.”

Waller also gave his thoughts about the risk of going back to WWE’s NXT brand but he believed he needed a platform to showcase his abilities and remind WWE officials what he was capable of.

“The one thing I’ll say, and I mean it. I’m always upfront and honest about situations. I could see the writing on the wall. They’re bringing up these kids from NXT who are super talented, and they’re giving them all the chances. I’m in the background, and it’s disappearing. You go lower and lower. You get more forgotten about. I was gone for sure. So when I say I took a risk to go to NXT, it’s a risk because you never know if it’s going to work out. But I trust in my ability, and I just needed a platform.

So I think it was something that I needed to do because I need to show them who I am; I need to show them I love this. I’m so good. You are the guys who haven’t seen it. It’s not me; you’re fumbling the ball. I have everything ready to go, but you just don’t know. So I took it upon myself to kind of force it on them. I’m like, ‘Hey, you want to know what I can do? I’m going to show you.’”

Waller also gave his thoughts about how his perspective has changed from learning the ropes to becoming a veteran presence in the locker room in WWE and his desire to set an example for younger talent and prove to WWE’s main roster that they missed an opportunity by not making better use of him. 

“Well, the first time you get to NXT, you’re learning. So when I was there, there’s guys like Ciampa and Gargano and Pete Dunne, and I’m learning under them, working out what this is, working out who I am as a character, learning. People talk about the WWE style, but all those types of things. Now, I run this; I am NXT. These kids are here to learn from me. I don’t really want to help them. I’m not here to give them advice and things like that. I’m here to show them what a real WWE Superstar is like. I’m here to show them the work ethic you need to have. I’m going to show them the talent you need to have to have that championship and represent it. Because I think for a while a lot of those lads didn’t have someone to look up to.

They didn’t have a Gargano or a Ciampa in the locker room to teach them how to do this. You’ve got a kid, a shot putter from six months ago, who’s the leader of the locker room. That’s not a great dynamic. So, I feel me going back there is now I’m fully me. I know who I am, and I’m just going to show the world. Part of it is I want to show the main roster, like Raw and SmackDown you had this. You had this in your hands, and you did nothing with it. So I’m going to make them regret it.” 

Transcript h/t: F4WOnline.com 1, 2, 3, & 4