Grayson Waller Explains What Went Wrong With His WWE Main Roster Run

Grayson Waller is the new NXT Champion and his time back on the "developmental brand" should better prepare him for a second run on the main roster in the future.

Waller made waves early last month when he returned to NXT and cut a revealing promo about his recent run in WWE. Waller tossed his main roster gimmick under the bus as well as the current crop of NXT talent, who he said were just retreads from TNA. The promo led to Waller getting an NXT Championship match at Heatwave over the weekend and he made the most of that opportunity.

In the main event of NXT Heatwave, Waller defeated Tony D'Angelo, Cruz Montana, and Zilla Fatu to win the NXT Championship. It's his first run with that championship since making his company debut in 2021 as part of the NXT 2.0 rebrand.

Waller was called up to the main roster in 2023 and had a rough stint overall while on SmackDown. He started out as singles act that was rooted in comedy via his interview style talk show called "The Grayson Waller Effect."

He began to experience some success once he began teaming with Austin Theory. A-Town Down Under would have one run as the WWE Tag Team Champions, but after Theory needed to take time off for an injury, they were quietly split apart.

Waller was paired up with The New Day afterward, but the alliance never really took off. After Kofi and Austin Creed, who just made their debut in AEW, left the company earlier this year, Grayson decided to take a risk in rejoining the NXT roster.

Grayson Waller reveals what went wrong for him on the WWE main roster

Austin Theory & Grayson Waller | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

It was hard to decipher why things went so wrong for Waller, but now we know. During an interview on Busted Open Radio, Waller discussed what went wrong for him while on the main roster. Waller said that he received feedback and opportunity that were inconsistent with one another, which led to him never getting to show WWE brass what they wanted to see out of him.

"My advice (from creative) was always, ‘We want you to be serious. We need you to be serious,’” Waller said. “I’m like, ‘Yes, let me be serious.’ ‘You’re with the New Day.’ Great. I love the New Day. I can’t explain how much those guys did for me. I have all the respect in the world for them. I never want people to think I’m derogatory towards them at all. What a chance to work with one of the best tag teams of all time. But we’re out there wearing silly hats. We’re mucking around and joking. I can’t be serious.”

The bottom line for Waller was that he didn't have the chance to show WWE what they wanted to see. He said that neither side did the wrong anything wrong. It's one of those things that can happen in the wrestling business, but he does have the opportunity to showcase who the real Grayson Waller is now.

Winning the NXT Championship is a great start. Waller cut a strong promo on this week's NXT and set the tone for what his title run would be. With challengers like Fatu, D'Angelo, Keanu Carver, and others waiting in the wings, Waller will be a busy man with the title on his shoulder.

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