Grayson Waller was recently drafted to SmackDown from NXT, but he is nowhere near happy considering he was drafted so late. Waller let his thoughts be known in a recent interview with “FOX Sports AU,” and you can check out the highlights below.
Waller admitted that he was frustrated after not being drafted on SmackDown on the first night of the WWE Draft, and even more so after the following week’s episode of RAW. He 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. Not everyone was there. Not everyone was there. I got asked to be there. So I expected to be drafted. When I wasn’t, I was frustrated. And I had to sit that whole weekend and think about how low I felt. 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.”
He went on to claim that he was the top name in NXT and deserved to be a marquee draft pick on live television instead of being announced on social media. Comparing himself to Tom Brady, Waller said,
“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.”
Sharing how he felt as he was drafted to the blue brand, Waller dismissed the notion that he was happy or grateful or anything in a similar vein. While others may consider this their dream fulfilled, for Waller, this is apparently just the beginning. He said,
“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. 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.”
Waller then went on to declare that regardless of when he was picked, he will be considered a monumental move for years to come:
“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?”
