Grayson Waller Opens Up on CM Punk, Taylor Swift Fans, and Risky Moves

Grayson Waller Opens Up on CM Punk, Taylor Swift Fans, and Risky Moves – In a candid and colorful interview with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, WWE’s Grayson Waller shared stories that ranged from social media backlash to dream matches and in-ring risks.

On upsetting Taylor Swift fans:

“That was a beautiful thing. And it was just like, it’s funny what we do. We talk for an hour today. You don’t know what the 10 seconds of this interview are that people are going to latch on to. And the same with any interview. I just made a joke on The Bump that if Travis Kelce is happy settling for a six, good for him, which is funny. That’s a great line. I was pretty happy with that, but I didn’t even think about it until all of a sudden, I have these cringe mums on TikTok who don’t spend time with their kids doing videos on me about how ugly I am. And they were saying some wild stuff, like Swifty fans are mean. There was one lady who was talking about how I had no lips. Never in my life have I thought about not having lips, and I’m looking at the mirror like, do I not have lips? They got my head a little bit. But I doubled down on it too, because I think people get stressed about when you annoy the fan base, especially the Swifties. But I doubled down on it because it was so fun. They were so angry and so upset. But there has been a part two to the story. So recently, George Kittle invited a few of us, it’s called Tight End University in Nashville, and all the tight ends train together for a couple of days, and they do a few events. And he invited us to this party one night. So me, Bayley and Sheamus all went to Nashville. Went to the party, and then Swifty and Travis Kelsey were both there. Now in the back of my mind, she doesn’t know who I am, but I’m like, oh, man, imagine if at some stage they’re scrolling through their phone and they’ve seen this idiot Australian has said a really rude thing. So I’m a bit like man, I’m gonna have to fight Travis Kelce. I’ve said multiple times, I’ll fight Travis Kelsey. And then I see how big tight ends are and how big he was, I’m gonna win, but it’s gonna be scrap. So I’m there with Sheamus and there’s all these famous people up there. We met Theo Von. There’s all the tight ends. Obviously, there’s just all these well-known people. They all know Sheamus. Obviously, he’s pale, so it’s like, you get this bright light in the corner of your eye, like you’re opening up the fridge. So it’s kind of painful for a second. So they’re all coming up and talking to him, and then Kelce comes up. Here we go. And he was super nice, Cena-esque. I’ll give him Cena-esque in the sense. He didn’t have to come over and chat to us. Super chill. Chatted to us for a bit. I was like, ‘Hey, man, Jason’s done some stuff. When are we getting you coming in?’ He’s like football first type of thing. So he was really cool. Didn’t get to meet Taylor officially. She did walk past me at some stage, and I had to move and go, oh, sorry. And she said, Thank you. So I think that’s the reconciliation. A good sister, too. She was just up there. I guess in my head, I thought, Taylor Swift, she can have all this security around all this. She was just sinking beers with the boys, just hanging upstairs. I was like, she’s good, good for her. There we go, reconciliation. I think the circle’s done. The circle’s finished. I was like, any, any girl who’s that famous, who just sits drinking with the boys and then goes down and does a song on the fly, that’s good.”

On his Mexican Destroyer videos:

“For some reason I think people forget how dangerous that move is. Legitimately, because everyone does it. If you watch an indie show, they’ll do it four or five times.”

You took it off the top rope:

“I got backstage, and some people weren’t happy with me. They were like, don’t do that. Someone pulled me aside and said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ It was just like, I understand the risks involved, and obviously I don’t want to take a move like that, but Penta is very good at what he does, but it’s very dangerous and it’s scary to be in that position. And I think sometimes we do so much wild stuff that sometimes we forget to put in perspective how wild that would be for someone off the street to be in that position, that high up, taking something like that. So that was a stressful thing. I think sometimes you go into, I don’t want to say go into shock, because that seems super scary. But when that impact happens and it’s like, Am I okay? Am I okay? You do legitimately check yourself. Am I okay? Do I feel okay? Obviously, adrenaline is a crazy thing too, so sometimes you don’t feel stuff, and then a couple hours later you do. So it’s like, sometimes it’s a real, you say sell, but it’s real. I’m like, Am I okay? Am I okay? And thank God I was.”

On a future dream match:

“I’ve said it a few times now. I’m gonna keep saying it. Right now, I want Punk. I want Punk so bad, dude. Because, as I said, as a ROH guy, I’ve watched Punk for a long time. I love the stuff he did in Ring of Honor. I loved when he signed his WWE contract on the Ring of Honor Championship, that’s so good. And when he came back, because I said some really mean things about Punk when he wasn’t here. I remember I took a super kick from Jey Uso, and it was the day that Punk left his last job. I took a super kick, and I put a photo online of me icing my jaw with a Pepsi can, which was just like, sometimes I like to have fun online and cause some chaos. So when he was coming over here, I was like, This is gonna be fun. What Punk are we gonna get? And then we’ve got this real soft Punk. So I want to find out who the real Punk is.”

Soft in what way?

“I’ll give some examples. I go to NXT last year, and he’s there with Fraxiom watching their match back, giving them some advice. And then Roxanne’s there and he’s like, ‘Hey, Waller, want to come watch this match?’ What do you mean? He’s really helpful backstage, and he’s super nice and all this. I’m either gonna be really disappointed that he’s softened, and this is the new Punk, and he’s just a really nice guy now, or the real Punk is hiding in there, and I want to be the one to bring it out. That’s what I want to do. Because it’s like, I guess I was ready to fight him backstage. I thought that’s what we were gonna do. I was like this is gonna be sick, he’s gonna start causing chaos, he’s gonna beat gonna beat up little flops backstage again, I’m in dude. But now he’s just a really nice guy and very helpful to everyone, helps everyone at NXT and does all this. That’s not the Punk that I love. I want to bring it back out, so I’m gonna get that opportunity. I’ve told him to his face, I’m like, there’s gonna be a day where I’m gonna stand across from you with a microphone, and I’m gonna tell you exactly what I think about you, and I want you to tell me exactly what you think about me. And I think that’s gonna be magic, because I don’t think we’ve seen NXT Waller on the main roster yet. I’ve had a lot of fun. I’m being very fun, but I don’t think they’ve seen how mean I can be, how cruel I can be. When I really lock in on something, I’m a different breed, and I don’t think I’ve been that recent. Just talking about it right now, I can feel it inside, that’s what I need. If you want to see a different side of me, put me against that guy. I’ll show you the real me.”