Grayson Waller Admits He Was Frustrated At Being Picked Late In The WWE Draft
Grayson Waller has likened it to being his 'Tom Brady moment'
May 17, 2023
WWE NXT standout Grayson Waller was drafted to SmackDown in the recent WWE Draft, though he was made to wait to hear the news (which was announced online as opposed to on television).
Speaking with FOX Sports, the Australian-born star described the process and likened his late selection to being his 'Tom Brady moment', saying:
"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".
As to why he was so frustrated with being picked late, the 33-year-old explained:
"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 will debut a talk show segment on this Friday's edition of SmackDown.
