Waller can only imagine what he’ll be doing when he’s at 100 percent.
In Grayson Waller’s final match in NXT at Spring Breakin’ this past April, he challenged Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Championship. As Waller was going for his ‘Rolling Thunder Stunner’, he suffered a broken leg.
Waller was called up to the main roster while hurt and would be introduced via The Grayson Waller Effect talk show.
With the announcement of WWE Elimination Chamber 2024 taking place in Perth, Australia, Waller made the media rounds with local outlets in the country and he spoke to Sporting News Australia. He looked back on the aforementioned leg injury and reiterated that it may have helped him. Waller is not sure if he gets his talk show if the injury doesn’t occur. He went on to add that he’s ‘maybe’ at 85 percent following the injury.
The moment the (broken leg) injury happened, it was very daunting and I think I’ve spoken before about the emotion in that moment, before the Draft, just had a great match with Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Championship. It was what I thought was my last match in NXT. All the emotion and that type of stuff. Once I got that out, I just changed it to focus because I pay attention to a lot of Black guys like Kobe Bryant, David Goggins, those type of guys where I just saw it as another hurdle and I didn’t want to let it hold me back and I thought if I can push through this and still be on the main roster and still be successful, then I can do anything and I think that was the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life… and in some ways, I think the injury helped because I got the talk show, The Grayson Waller Effect which is huge right now. I’m having so many big stars and maybe if I didn’t get hurt, that wouldn’t have happened and it’s just been something I’m pushing through. Even now, I don’t think I’m 100 percent. I think I’m maybe 85 percent, which is frustrating but for me, I just see that as potential. If this is what I’m doing at 85 percent, imagine six months in Australia when I’m 100 percent, everything feels good and then I’m getting to perform. I’d be really worried if I stood across from Grayson Waller at Elimination Chamber because it’s not gonna go well.
On SmackDown, Waller has formed an alliance with Austin Theory. This past Friday, the pair picked up their second consecutive win as a team. Waller can see the pairing with Theory becoming permanent. He then addressed Theory’s detractors and called them ‘idiots’.
I think very much so (Austin Theory & I’s team could be permanent). You know, Theory’s had similar opportunities to me. Even he had them a little earlier, but he’s killing (it). He went in there against The Rock and competed, which it’s not many people can say they did that. I think a lot of people online recently, Theory’s become the guy that they like to say they don’t like or they don’t see potential in him and they’re just idiots. I’d be jealous too because he’s so young, he’s so talented, he’s so good-looking, he’s in shape, he’s everything these people wish they were and I think that’s a similarity between me and Austin. We have a lot in common, we enjoy working together and if there’s opportunities, if he needs some help against The Rock, I’ve got no problem going out there and helping him and I know he’d do the same for me but, I think there’s something there between the two of us.
Scheduled for the 9/29 edition of SmackDown is Bobby Lashley guest appearing on The Grayson Waller Effect. POST Wrestling’s weekly reviews of SmackDown can be found in this content folder.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Sporting News Australia with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
