Grayson Waller reveals how trolls ruined WWE gimmick
Grayson Waller is very familiar with how the WWE Universe is broad, with many hardcore supporters, from loyal superfans to social media trolls. Unfortunately, there have been various incidents over the years, and now Waller is opening up on how a certain act was nixed after being hijacked by trolls.
The 21st Century Success Story joined WWE in March 2021 after four years on the Australian indie scene. After climbing to the top of NXT, Waller debuted his new talk show segment, The Grayson Waller Effect, in August 2022 during a feud with Apollo Crews. The 2022 Men's Iron Survivor Challenge winner was called up to SmackDown in the 2023 Draft, and the next month, he debuted The Grayson Waller Effect on the blue brand with guest AJ Styles.
The original version of The Grayson Waller Effect featured a feed of fan comments on Waller's Instagram Live stream that was being shown. Speaking to The Wrestling Classic, the 34-year-old revealed how he came up with the original ideas for his talk show gimmick, and an NXT creative writer helped make it happen. Waller also noted how trolls caused the comments stream to be nixed.
"Yeah, so all that was my idea because I was trying to kind of… I spoke to a writer about it, he brought me the idea, and we kind of worked through it together. My whole thing was I wanted it to be different, and I thought using Instagram Live… I use social media all the time, so why not use it on the show? In NXT, we did it where we actually had the feed on the big screen, so if you’re in the audience, you could kind of see the comments," Grayson Waller said.
The A-Town Down Under member then revealed how the format was changed on the main roster due to the increasing troll comments.
"Especially with how, you know, trolls love to troll. So, we’ve kind of adapted it differently on the main roster, where if you want to be in that extra feed, to have a look at what I’m looking at, you can, but we’re not putting the comments on the screen or anything. It’s specifically for if you’re just logging into my feed. If people want to say things, that’s their decision, but we’re not putting it on TV anymore," Grayson Waller said. [H/T to RSN]
Waller and Austin Theory have spent more than one year teaming together as A-Town Down Under. The rising Superstars began their first reign as WWE Tag Team Champions at WrestleMania XL but were dethroned 90 days later by DIY on SmackDown. Waller and Theory have failed to regain the titles since then.
Grayson Waller returns home for a big match
WWE recently opened its forbidden door to several other promotions, such as TNA, GCW, and Pro Wrestling NOAH. WWE also recently partnered with Australia's PWA on a deal that saw Grayson Waller return home.
Pro Wrestling Australia hosted Day One of its Black Label Colosseum 2024 event a few weeks back at the Metro Theatre in Sydney. The show's co-main event saw Waller defeat Jimmy Townsend in just over 18 minutes. The one-time WWE Tag Team Champion won the entire tournament in 2019.
Waller has teamed with and wrestled Townsend in the past but has now won all three of their singles matches. The win over Townsend marked Waller's first PWA match since March 2021, when his WWE signing was announced.
