Rising WWE Star Frustrated About ‘Tough’ Main Roster Call-Up?

WWE

Rising WWE star Grayson Waller has reacted to his main roster call-up during the WWE Draft, explaining why he found it ‘tough’.

With Waller touted as a future WWE main-eventer by a number of stars, it seemed inevitable that the Aussie would eventually be called up to the main roster.

Waller was officially named a SmackDown star during the 2023 WWE Draft, with his selection announced on Raw Talk, after the May 1 edition of Raw.

Speaking with FOX Sports Australia, Waller noted that he thought he had a good chance of being drafted as he was asked to be in the room of NXT stars watching the draft.

Waller noted that his draft not being announced on TV was frustrating, after waiting the entire weekend to learn of his plans.

Unhappy that he was picked so late, Waller said:

“I’m not gonna lie, it was tough. You know, I sat there on the Friday night for you know, four or five hours or however long it was. I saw name after name and Grayson Waller’s name wasn’t picked.

“And you know, not everyone was there. Not everyone was there. I got asked to be there. So I expected to be drafted. And when I wasn’t, I was frustrated. And I had to sit that whole weekend and think about how low I felt.

“And then I turn up that Monday and the same thing happens. I watched the entire episode of Raw and I’m hearing these names picked – and there’s some really talented people in NXT who got drafted, but I’m Grayson Waller. I’m the number one person here. My name should be drafted on television.

“So I was frustrated, and I really thought that I was gonna sit there for two nights and not get picked – and I thought about Tom Brady, and I thought about that, if you watch the documentary, The Brady Six about the six quarterbacks that got picked before Tom – and I know every single person drafted before me. I know every NXT person that was drafted before me.

“And when my name was called last, I wasn’t elated. I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t crying like everyone else. They’re all just happy to get drafted. That’s their goal achieved, they’re done now.

“This is just the beginning. I took umbrage with the fact that I was picked last. I took umbrage to the fact that it wasn’t on television.

“And I don’t think that’s the wrong thing, I think for me, that’s when I operate at my best – and I think when you saw when I talked afterwards, that was who I am, I was being real, I hold myself to a different standard.

“I’m not like everyone else in NXT who’s just happy to be in the Performance Center, or happy to be on Raw now.

“I see myself as one of the best and I operate best with a chip on my shoulder, so I put a whole bag of chips on my shoulder that night.

“I feel Smackdown got the number one pick with the last pick. This is going to go down five years from now – when you think about draft moments, there’s so many cool draft moments.

“I think Grayson Waller getting picked last will be a moment because I’ll be at this stage, and everyone’ll look back and go wow, how did he get picked so late?”

Waller’s interview after getting drafted got fans talking. You can watch Waller’s promo right here.

Several drafted NXT names made their main roster debut appearances on Monday’s edition of Raw.

Here are results from the May 15 episode:

Shinsuke Nakamura def. The Miz

It was announced Liv Morgan had suffered an injury and the scheduled Women’s Tag Team Championship match was cancelled

Mustafa Ali won a battle royal to become #1 contender for Gunther’s Intercontinental Championship at Night of Champions

Becky Lynch returned and cut a promo on Trish Stratus, challenging her to a match at Night of Champions

Dominik Mysterio def. Xavier Woods

As JD McDonagh left the arena after an interview, there was a tease of Finn Balor scouting him to recruit him for Judgment Day

Indus Sher (Sanga & Veer) def. two jobbers

Cody Rhodes promo on Brock Lesnar ahead of their Night of Champions match

Raquel Rodriguez def. Chelsea Green

Judgment Day (Finn Balor & Damian Priest) def. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn after interference from Imperium, which had been instigated by Paul Heyman doing deals with Judgment Day and Imperium earlier in the night

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• Grayson Waller
• draft
• call-up
• wwe

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