WWE

A recent WWE NXT call-up says fans wouldn’t have seen them on TV in the black and gold version.

In the 2023 WWE Draft, Grayson Waller was called up from the NXT brand and drafted to Friday Night SmackDown.

Since then, the arrogant Aussie has interacted with the likes of Roman Reigns, John Cena and WWE Hall of Famer Edge.

Waller was introduced to most WWE fans when NXT shifted from the black and gold era to the 2.0 era in September 2021. He quickly became one of the top heels for the developmental brand.

Speaking with Ryan Satin on Out of Character, Waller was asked about NXT switching to 2.0. He answered:

“For me, I got very lucky with 2.0 coming up because the way NXT ran in the past, you weren’t going to see Grayson Waller on TV for years just because that’s how the system was working at the time.”

“I was on 205 LIVE doing things on that, which was fun. I was getting to have matches every week which is always great to have reps.”

“But when 2.0 kind of came in and there was a shift from strictly in-ring work to more entertainment and character work, that was perfect for me. I was like, ‘Give me a shot.'”

Waller continued on to explain how he went to Shawn Michaels and told him to “give me the ball”, saying:

“I still remember I wrestled Roderick Strong for the Cruiserweight Championship very early on. I came backstage and Shawn was there, who obviously I have a little history with me now, and I said to Shawn to his face, like, ‘Give me the ball. If you give me the ball, I will run with it and I’ll give you exactly what you need’, which is a very ballsy thing for someone to say to Shawn Michaels, you know what I mean?”

“I was kind of in the moment after Roderick Strong slapped me for 20 minutes, but he gave me the ball and I think we all saw what I did with it.”

Grayson Waller last wrestled in a loss to Jey Uso in the main event of the July 28 edition of WWE SmackDown.

Stay up to date with the WWE roster’s win-loss record (for televised matches) at this link.

Transcription via Wrestling News

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