Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Grayson Waller On Austin Theory, Getting JACKED, New Day, Roasting Fans, CM Punk

Episode Date: November 4, 2025

Grayson Waller (@GraysonWWE) is a professional wrestler currently signed to WWE. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Anaheim, CA to discuss WWE's recent trip to Australia and not being a part of the Crown Jewel card, the rise of Australian wrestlers, ending his alliance with Austin Theory and A-Town Down, teaming with The New Day, what he really thinks of the Canadian Destroyer, upsetting Taylor Swift fans, recently debuting a new finisher, who his WWE dream match is, and more!Please support our sponsors!   PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/?ref=tibcloux FACTOR: Get 50% off your first box, plus Free Breakfast for 1 Year with the code INSIGHT50OFF at https://factormeals.com/INSIGHT50OFFSTASH: Go to https://get.stash.com/INSIGHTto see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase and to view important disclosures   SEAT GEEK: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV2025 Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount   NORDVPN: Exclusive deal! https://nordvpn.com/cvv Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! PRIZEPICKS: Download the app today and use code INSIGHT to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup!  TIMELINE: Go to https://timeline.com/insightto get 10% off your order of Mitopure!   VUORI: Get 20% off your first purchase! Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at https://vuori.com/cvv   ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and reach your financial goals faster: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv MIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://trymiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF   ZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at https://zocdoc.com/insight   BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv   BLUECHEW: Get your first month of BlueChew for free with the code CVV at https://bluechew.com   For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you have ever enjoyed any of these episodes, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast or Spotify? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.    Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Flee! You just ran a half marathon? Real athlete. On three hours of sleep? I'm not one of these fake athletes. You know all the wrestlers who put up all their workouts all the time? Yeah. Look at what I can do.

They're always the fake as a real athlete. Half marathon, one hour, 34 minutes. That's an impressive time. After as many Bud Lights in Nashville as I could get. So I was pretty impressed. So you were out on Broadway just a few hours before? Yeah, I did it with my best mate, Rob from home, who we used to run all the time when I used to live in Australia. And he convinced me to do the half marathon.

And he's a terrible influence. His idea was if he got me to drink a lot on Broadway, then I would do worse the next day and he would beat me. So if you had a full night of rest, maybe. I think sub 90 minutes, I think 100% could have got. So now I'm like, now I want to do a marathon. Now I'm like, I think I could do 330 marathon. Have you done a marathon before? No, never.

Okay. So that's the next goal. Well, now it's out of the world. Yeah. You have to do it. It's going to happen. And because, so, Seamus lives in Nashville. Yeah.

Obviously, Seamus loves beating me up, but Seamus also loves Irish whiskey. Shamis loves Broadway. So sometimes he'll be like, you know, I'll come out drinking even though I hate you just because I can have some Irish whiskey. And I don't know if Seamus is a normal human, but when you get like a shot of whiskey, you know, it's a shot, right? He comes back to the table with like half a glass of just straight Irish whiskey. And so, yeah.

that was my pre-marathon ritual. Maybe if you put some time and some effort into the next one. I think it's more impressive. We used to do a thing in the city to surf in Australia is a famous 15K race. I've heard of this. Around the beach and everything. And we used to do the, there's the pacer at the end, right? So you have to beat the pacer.

If the pacer gets past you, you have to exit the race. And what we used to do is we used to do like a pub to pub. So we'd run to the pub. We'd have a drink. And when we could see the pacer kind of coming, sprint out and we'd sprint to the next pub and it was like a game that people would play to drink as many bars as you can on the 15K. I don't know if drinking and running are supposed to go together like that. It's an Australian thing. I think it's just an Australian thing. We turn

everything into some version of a drinking game. What are the stereotypes about Australia that are true? Most of them, to be honest. I think when we, because we obviously were just in Perth for the last week and it was good seeing because we got to be there. Usually we're in and out. Like today, I'll get here last night, 11 o'clock. I leave tonight at 11 o'clock. I don't see any at Anaheim. No Disneyland, no Mighty Duck store. You can look out the window. Yeah, gorgeous smog. It's beautiful. Who doesn't love California? It's just the marine layer they call it. You know, I think everyone got to spend a whole week there and it's like, Australia is what it is. We're a bunch of fun, silly bogans who like to go out and have a good

time. Even Bronbreaker, who for years has relentlessly mocked Australia and it's mud huts and it's lions and tigers showing his understanding of, you know, culturals outside of America said he loved Australia and it's his favorite place that he's traveled so far. So that makes me happy. Is your goal at some point in the next few years to wrestle on a WWPLE in Australia? That's 100% my goal. That was my goal this year and unfortunately, you know, it didn't get to happen, which is obviously disappointing, but I got to perform twice in front of my home crowd. Like, I've been dialed in for six months. This is what all my focus was I'm getting on these shows and I told them. I don't care how. Like

put me out in front of that crowd. And that match against Phoenix that I had before the show on Smackdown is, that's my most memorable match I've ever had. I've done WrestleMania, which was so good. But, like, for me, like, that was the one that, like, got me. Because when I came out, like, you don't know the reaction you're going to get in, like, all these different cities. And, you know, Phoenix went out and they love Phoenix.

You know, he wears a mask. And now W. W.F. Fans love idiots in masks. Like, the Lucha loses is a super over, which sucks. But then when I went out and the reaction I got, and then they're booing Phoenix. And then they're just like, we're on main event. Like, we're before the show, like, usually this isn't the big stuff. So when they'll chant my name and that type of stuff, like that meant a lot.

Because I always rap Australia. That's what I'm really proud of it. And to get that energy back from the crowd, like, man, that one, like, that was the, that was my favorite match I've ever had. How did it feel getting cheered? You're not used to getting cheered. But I, like, I enjoyed it because these are my people. You know, I don't represent the fans anywhere else.

I represent my fans. You know, there were a lot of people who said, you know, they saw me on the indies. You know, they're calling me Maddie Warburg. Like, oh, we saw you at this RSL club or we saw you here. Like, we love what you do for Australia. Like, so it was like, it was nice because they're my people. I represent them.

So I think even though they know I'm an idiot, they're like, I'm their idiot. And they got behind me that night. And for one time only, I was like, this is, I get it. And they bring you presents and stuff. Maybe being a good guy's are okay. I understand what it means now. Now I know why Cody fakes it for so long. They bring you all these fun gifts and things like that.

I was like, some guy brought me a Jordan Myelada Eagles jersey. Like a real one, not even a fake Chinese one. So I was like, oh man, they don't need to pretend to be a good guy for a while. You think you could ever be a good guy? I think there's elements of like, because I don't think you have to change who you are to be a good guy. It's all about the crowd reaction. I'm not going to change who I am. I'm not going to pander, you know, come on, like the classic indie good guy who doesn't know what they're doing.

Like, I think there's elements of wrestlers today of they're the same person they are, but the crowd's just behind them. They haven't changed what they do. they're still beating up people or they're still rude or whatever it is. Like, I think Dom's a great example. Dom's getting cheered when he goes places. People are excited to see him. They understand what he's doing. They love that he's lying, cheating, and stealing.

And they want to get behind him. Like, in Australia, they were booing Penta, which I loved. That's my people. They hate what he did to me. But Dom hasn't changed who he is. Dom's not pandering to the crowd. Like, Dom's just being himself, but now they're behind him. I don't think that makes him a good guy.

I think he's still a bad guy. But I think the crowd appreciates what he's doing. and they're loving what he's doing. Yeah, it's almost like they love to, they love to hate on him. Right? Like even if they are booing someone like Dom, they're like,

ah, because that's the thing we're supposed to do. Like, we're so appreciative of the work he's doing. Yeah, and it's fun. And, you know,

they're still going to go up to him to ask for an autograph when they see him. He's going to say no, but they're still going to go and ask. Right. So I think, I think it's a beautiful thing when someone like Dom can just be who he is

and the crowd will react, how they want. You know, he might go somewhere else and they, they give him a different reaction. but like he hasn't changed. I'm never going to change. Like I'm me.

I'm not going to change who I am and start pandering to the crowd just because I want them to cheer because I think that's fake. And I think you can see baby faces who do that and the crowd doesn't get behind them the same. They always say the best characters

are just you turned up to 11. So who are you when the cameras are off? Well, I think I'm, this is very Australian who I am. I love banter. Like you can say before the camera was on, I'm talking to you the same as I'm talking to you now, I'm not going to hold back.

Like, it's fun. Like, I always say the difference between Australia and Americans in Australia will say the horrible things to your face and talk really nice behind your back, America is the switch. They're going to say really nice things to your face and then say the horrible things behind your back. So that's what we are as Australians. We love to banter and say mean things and that's always who I've been. And now I get paid to do it, which is a beautiful thing.

There's not many jobs where you can say horrible things. Teaching, they didn't pay me to do that. I had to, you know, use my talents to teach the next generation. Now I can just say horrible things and they're going to pay me for it. The next generation being taught by Grayson Waller. Hey, I had a lot of the students reaching out in the Perth weekend. They were seeing things. And I actually had a guy, he came up to me with a, it's outside of you, one of the best

interviews I've done. He goes, I have a photo for you. And it was a photo of me that I've never seen of me teaching. It was my first year of teaching with my first year five class. I've never seen the photo. And it blew my mind. I was like, where did you get this? But apparently one of the girls in the photos now grown up and dating his best mate and all that

type of stuff. So, small world. Does that feel like a lifetime ago? Dude, it doesn't even feel like me when I see photos. Like it's, it doesn't feel like a different person was there. And it's crazy that you were still doing indie wrestling and then like teaching was, I guess, the main job at that point in time? Yeah.

So like the hard thing with Australian indie wrestling is there's not enough money in it. You can't work full time. There's maybe one or two people. But they, you know, Robbie Eagles was. work in New Japan. And that's why he can now work full-time Indian Australia. But you have to have a job. Everyone has a job. So everyone's working full-time all week so that they can go out in the weekend and go to all these shows and do all these things and chase it. That's why I think being an Australian wrestler is one of the hardest places to make it because there's less opportunity, there's less

eyes. And you have to work full-time all week. So when do you go to the gym, when you do all these things, you have to fit it all in. So like the guys and girls who want it in Australia really want it. And that's when they get to these positions. That's why they take over. So what's changed with Australian wrestling? Because if we look back 15, 20 years ago, there were zero Australian wrestlers on the main scene. Nathan Jones, dude, is pretty good.

Nathan Jones for sure, right? Superstar. Nathan Jones fell over in WrestleMania. He was in a bunch of movies, too. That's who he had for a long time. Nathan Jones getting taken out of WrestleMania. That was our hero. Nathan Jones.

But then it was Teneal. Then the Iconics, Buddy Matthews, Ria, Bronson Reed, Kyle Fletcher, you, you guys are taking over to. Yeah. And I think from what I've heard, that level of talent was always there, but people hadn't seen them. You couldn't see them because they're so far away. But the talent was there.

And it's just, it took Teneal and TM61 and Buddy and all those, really, obviously taking it to another level, getting those chances and doing really well. They're like, oh, wow, those Aussies are, oh, let's try another one, bang, bang. I think everyone who's come to WWE, especially as an Australian, has done extremely well. Like our hit rate is 100%. Like if we were a baseball player, you know, we're home run,

home run after home run. And now I think what we've done is we've opened the door for more to come in. And that's kind of what I know, speaking to Rio and speaking of Bronson, that's what we want to do. You know, we have a lot of Aussies who will come over and stay with us. And then we help them out,

hey, stay in my house. I bought a house specifically with extra rooms. So when the boys from home come over, they stay in that room, I'll take care of everything. Food's taken care of, everything's taken care of. You guys just, you go wrestle and train and gym and work as hard as you can, and I'll open the door and hopefully you take advantage of it. And there's a lot of guys doing that right now, and I'm like, so excited for you

and other fans to see these guys come up. There's two guys in Australia right now called The Dropouts who came a stadium for six weeks. They worked their ass off, like harder than I've seen anyone. And they have this, they call it the Australian Yeat, and I hate you. and I hate Yeat, so I don't like putting it over, but they do the Chelsea Dagger song. In Perth, I brought Otis came and Bailey came. And when they did their entrance, they were like, Bailey's like, oh my God, who are these guys? And then on her match on Raw, she did the, which was awesome.

So like, there's these guys who I think once they get given a chance in the US, they're going to take over and they're going to get signed like immediately. Why do you think Aussie wrestlers weren't given a chance for so long? It's just like out of sight, out of mind. And like obviously the American Indies were really good. Like you looked 10, 15 years ago, that indie scene is like wild. I think the American indie scene now is being picked dry. There's obviously some talented guys left, but you have all these guys in TNA or WWE. You have all the best indie guys, they're gone.

And I think the UK, you just saw a bunch of the Europe guys get signed. The UK is getting picked dry. Australia's overflowing. There's almost too much talent. So, like, they haven't been picked dry yet. So they're just sitting there waiting for someone to come and grab them. And we did the tryout last year. They got Zaria from the triad.

He's obviously doing it so good. And I know, speaking to Coach Bloom, there's a bunch of other guys that they wanted, but it just wasn't the time. So, like, I know their eyes are on Australia and they know the talents there. Did you always believe in your heart that this was going to happen? You were going to get signed by WWE? To be honest, no, like, I just loved wrestling. I loved Friday and Saturday going out with the boys and chatting backstage and doing these matches.

It was like, it was fun. Like, I loved wrestling. And I obviously had goals. Like, my goal was to just do an indie in America because I used to watch American Indian wrestling. Just one Indian. Yeah, I was like, that'd be sick. Like, I remember King of Trios and Shakara was one I used to love.

I was like, if I could do King of Trios, man, that's dream made. So this didn't seem like a potential. There was no chance of it happening. Whereas now I think the guys and the girls in Australia see the road. It's like, oh my God, it's possible. And even talking to a bunch of fans in Australia go, hey, I really want to start training. Where should I train? They can see like there's an opportunity there. They can make it happen, which is really,

really cool that like I think myself Rhea and Bronson and obviously Kyle Fletcher two are showing these Aussies, hey, this is 100% possible for you to achieve. It feels like over the last year or so, you have dialed in your diet. Yeah, dude. You've dialed in your walkouts. Yes. Yes. Yeah. What's changed? For me, it was like, originally it was like the Australia show was my goal. I was like, I'm going to be the best shape of my life by Australia. Because, you know, you know, You know, I don't have a trainer or anything. I just do everything myself.

So I think I wasted a lot of time trying to get big. I think the idea was like, you know, you get in there with like Randy or someone or even AJ now. And they're just huge. And I was like, I need to get big. So I'm doing all the mass gainer and I'm lifting heavy and all that. It didn't work. So then I was like, I need to try something different.

So I started running. Every day, 5K I started with. Just every day I would run. And I lost 15 pounds. And then everyone's like, man, you put on so much size. And I was like, I mean, wasting time trying to put on. I should have been taking size off. So I think since I lost that weight, like, I'm in the best shape of my life.

I feel, I feel so good. Yeah, you've leaned out a ton. I'm running like a demon and it's just, it's fun again. Like I'm very competitive, like unhealthily competitive. So I need to find something like the gym I don't necessarily find competitive at times. When I'm running and I have my app that tells me my times, now I'm competing against myself. Like, that's what I needed.

I need that dog in me where I'm just like, oh, I'm going to do this. I'm going to beat my time. I'm going to beat my time. And so that's been probably like six months now. I've been every single day. You wear a whoop. I wear a whoop as well. Whoops the goat.

It's funny because it like it makes everything like a gamified. Yeah. And we have like there's, there's me the dropouts, those two lads. And then there's Matt Hader who's Zaria's boyfriend. Another guy, Jimmy Townsend, who's up in Toronto right now, Australian wrestler. Yeah, Toronto got. And we have a little group, a little whoop group. And it's like the competitive energy comes out.

I had one night where Jimmy had like, like an 18.9. For whoop fans, very high strain score. Okay, for you, most wrestling fans, probably don't know what a whoop is, don't know what working out is, don't know what fitness is. So a strain is when you push your body

through hard things. Like, you know, when you walk to the door to get the Uber order and you start breathing heavy, strain. But he had 18.9. And I was like, I'm going to beat him tonight. And it's like 11 o'clock at night. And I just started running.

I ended up running, I think I ended up doing 15 kilometers because I couldn't beat his score. So I just kept doing it. lapse. Very unhealthy, competitive side. But I think they're the kind of things that I need personally to be in the best shape. I need to chase someone. I need someone to hunt down. That's the great thing about the movie. Everyone's in super good shape. So there's a lot of guys to try and chase down and try and get on their level and kind of, I think it shows that's, Bailey talked about recently, that's something you can control. You can't control a lot of things in wrestling, but you can

control how you look when you go out on TV. And so I think that was something that I needed to focus on more and I look real good right now, dude. Everyone's noticing. Yeah. Like the comments on every video you put out now is like, man, Grayson got jacked. Yeah, I did. I'm going to get more jacked.

So get used to it. So where did you go from here? Like, if we were to look at the next year ahead, what does it take for Grayson Waller to become a singles champion? You know, I think the W.E. Rosser right now is the most stacked it's ever been. Like, I'm on Raw. You got punk.

you've got the Uso's, you've got L.A. Knight, now you've got Bronon Bronson, you've got Roman when he comes around. That's not even taking into account. AJ, Don Mysterio, Penta's here now, that flop, dragon. Like, it's so stacked. So the guys you're competing with now are the top of the top. So they're the kind of guys that I'm trying to take on. So obviously right now I'm doing some stuff with the new day, which is super fun,

best tag team of all time. But I know, I'm just going to get in the best shape I can. Every time I get an opportunity, I'm going to show out. I'm going to do whatever it takes. When the opportunity is there, I'm going to steal it. I'm going to take it. I'm going to run with it. But I just got to wait for that chance.

And it's coming. It's all about patience, what we do, you know. Sometimes you get in your head and you're like, maybe I wasn't on Raw today. Oh, man, they don't like me. I'm like, whatever it is. And that's not what it is. It's just like, it's not your chance tonight, dude.

Like, your chance is coming. And you just got to wait. And I think some people fumble the bag, stressing about that time period where you're kind of sitting and waiting. But at the end of the day, like, we get paid to travel the world and do these cool things. Like, I think my perspective. has changed a lot.

There was actually, would you like me to put over John Sina for a moment? Of course. I hate saying nice things about John. How can you not like John Sien? He did a, like, maybe two years ago where I was kind of freshly on SmackDown, he did like a little, not a locker room thing.

We had a little meeting. We had to talk about some stuff he got up. And he said something that really stuck with me where he talked about like, you know, you don't have to do the Netflix break promo. You don't have to wrestle before the show. You know, you don't have to do the dark match. It's like, you get to.

Like, you get to three minutes, say whatever you want on Netflix. You get to wrestle before the show when they're the hottest, when they're the most excited, and you get to wrestle another great super. And when he said that, it changed my perspective a little bit. I'm like, who are we to complain about? Like, I have mates at home who would like literally give everything in their life to wrestle before Raw. Who am I to go, oh, man, I got to wrestle.

Like, I hated that I even, like, possibly thought those things. So once he said that, that changed everything for me. and I look at everything as get-to. Anything you give me, you give me 30 seconds backstage, I'm stealing that. I'm going to make sure people online are going to reshare the 30 seconds that I are on. I'm going to make sure whatever moment I have is going to be something. That's the mindset. I think you have to have.

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Investments LLST and SEC registered investment advisor. Investing involves risk. Offer is subject to terms and conditions. I know you don't want to say nice things about John Cena, but he is so wise. And I did an interview with him years ago and it actually keys in on what you were saying earlier. Control the controllable. Three words he said that have stuck with me, I think about him almost every day. That's what you're talking about. There's only a few things that you can control. And if those are the things that you're able to kind of orchestrate yourself, you're in the driver's seat with those. Yeah, and it's like, I guess before you meet him, you kind of think it's a work in a way. Because you're like, there's no way.

He's the most famous wrestler, probably almost ever. He doesn't have time to do all these things. But then the more I've seen him, like, it's all real. Like, in Australia, there was a bunch of the extras who were all my mates standing around backstage, being super awkward because it's an awkward situation. They don't know what to do. He just walked up to them. Hey, guys, shook their hands and just 10 minutes. stood there, talked to them, gave him advice, said, okay, thank you guys, walked off.

He's wrestling AJ in this huge, like, one of his last matches. And I was like, that's a really cool thing to see a guy who's at the top of the top, give him back. Any opportunity he has. I feel sick saying these nice things about you, John. I'd much rather say mean things to you. But I thought that was a very cool thing. And I think for us as wrestlers, that should be what we do. It doesn't matter if John Sina can go up to a bunch of extras and give them advice and be cool,

like who we ever act like we're better than anyone. And I am. I'm better than everyone. But like, I think there's certain people that you should take that time for and aspiring wrestlers who you have been in the same shoes you've been in. They're the kind of people that you give back to. The thing that impresses me the most about it is the one currency we have in life that we can't get back is time. And he is so generous with his time. He's so present in those moments. And like the amount of interviews I've done with him were like we're supposed to get wrapped up. And he's like, no, no, we're going to keep going actually. and it's like he's giving you this commodity that he can't get back. Yeah, and I think he enjoys doing it, but even all the stuff with the sick kids, man, like we've had the opportunity to go to, like, children's hospitals and stuff, and it's not easy.

It's a really tough situation because you're meeting these kids who are obviously in a difficult circumstance, and they're so happy to see you, but it's like, it can be a tough environment. Like, you know, you're in a hospital with a lot of sick kids. Like, it's sad, and it kind of tugs in your heartstrings a lot, but I think he's really strong with how he handles it, and he brings these kids up,

and it's think he's a lot. he's a great role model for the rest of us for how we need to interact with these kids. And when we get these opportunities to meet him, I think you see what you can do for them in those moments. So I think he said a great precedent for everyone else coming up now. What did that segment that you did with him in London mean to you? Yeah. Dude, that's like, they're the ones you look back on.

At the time, like, this stuff moves so fast. Like, you don't think of it because then you got Smackdown Friday and you're doing this match and then you do it like, and it just disappears. But looking back on it, like, that's wild. that I even had that opportunity to get in there with him, especially so early on the main roster. And to have the mic across from him, that's dangerous. That's an extremely dangerous thing.

There's certain people who haven't survived, John's seen a duel on the microphones. But I felt like that set me up because I held my own. And it was just like, that London crowd's great because they hate Australians and I hate people from England. So it was just like such a beautiful kind of moment because they didn't want me to be me to be in there and they wanted to seem to beat me up. And I had a lot of mean things that I needed to get off my chest about England. and they never get in WrestleMania.

You're never getting WrestleMania. It doesn't matter how much you like plead online. Like we don't want to go there. It sucks. It's cold. Like it would be the worst mania of all time. But that was a really cool moment. Even getting to do it in Colorado too.

Like getting to do a second time with him. And now it's kind of on me. One thing about John is like it's on you. There's no like, hey, can you say this though? Like it's a test. You don't go over it before? Like I don't know why you'd ever go over anything because, you know, in wrestling, you're just talking.

Of course, yes. I think it's a situation of like, I think the test is he's going to let you say what you want to say. He has what he's going to say and it's like, that's where the test is. Like, do you have it? He's not going to give it to you. He's not going to make it happen for you. He might give you directions in certain areas, but like it's up to you. And I think that's where the test is.

That's how you show that you belong is you. It's on you. It's not on anyone else. It's not on some little nerd backstage who's putting something together for you. It's on you. And I think that's a great thing. I think that's a real test. I feel like you've been given a lot of these opportunities.

Like, WWE is very comfortable putting a mic in your hand. Yeah, because they know I can just go out and do it. And I think the Netflix promo is great for that. Like me and the new day, like, we just do what we want.

We're going out there, we're having fun with it. And I think that's, that's a real test. Because who knows what's going to happen? Who knows if you're wrestling someone, they get hurt. Hey, two minutes,

they're hurt. Do something. Like, that's going to happen. I wrestled our truth on NXT. And this is, A 75-year-old bloke wanted to jump over the ropes on top of me, okay? And he tore his handstring going over. We're in break.

Brakes are very long. Breaks are very long when the person's injured, they've taken him backstage, and we're in pitcher and pitcher, so I can't even talk. But I'm doing the spinner Rooney. I'm up on the announced table doing stuff. Like, you got to do something. And I think that's where, like, the tests are. When things go wrong, what do you do?

Did you immediately know he was hurt? 100%. Yeah. Yeah. So that was it. That was a tough one because obviously everyone loves truth. And like, that's someone you don't want to see get hurt, especially in that situation. And then you have to then fill the awkward death time where the crowd goes completely silent after.

And you don't know if he's coming back. Yeah. But that's what we do. We're very good at just making things happen. How did this partnership with the New Day come about? I think the great thing about the New Day, obviously, I think hands down they're the greatest tag team of all time. You can't deny it. If you look at the numbers, it is very difficult to argue again.

Combined, we have 14 tag team championship reigns, which is great. But I think it's the... I don't know, the Dudleys and the Hardys might have something to say. What, it's falling off a ladder. That's so hard. Oh, I could do that. You know how many fail videos I've seen on YouTube of old people falling off ladders? Like, I've seen it happen before.

I'm not impressed with the Hardys. I think the New Days would dog walk the Hardys. You're not impressed with the Hardys. No, those young NXT prospects, the Hardy Boys, you know? Like, you just fall off ladders. I'm not impressed by you. Like, I think the new day would walk all over those guys, you know? So I know they're hanging down in NXT a little bit, but hopefully one day they get called up.

And if they have the opportunity to get called up to the main roster, I think the new day are going to have a chat to them. We skipped right over the fact that you said 14 tag team combined. Yeah. So 13 plus one. Yeah. But the new day being, like, the best thing I think about the new day is you can give them anything and they turn it into something huge. Like, they are so good at just like this morning thing. because we're obviously morning the death of the tag division.

Like, it's so sad that the tag division's dead on Monday Night Raw. A little nail on the coffin, you got Dragon Lee and AJ Stiles as champs now. That's cringe. That's really sad. You know, that morning thing, that's something that was a one-time thing that they've now turned into months worth of television. And they have giant hats, which I now have proudly in my house. I have a giant Frankenstein for Halloween. He has a nice giant, whatever the hat, woods calls it.

But they're just so talented doing that stuff. And being a guy who was in a tag team for a long time, getting to work with them, man. And it's a dream. They've been through everything, everything that's ever happened. So, like, I'm just trying to, like, learn all I can from them. And because a lot of the, you know, the vets in the locker room, they don't want to hand back down. You know, they want to protect their spot. New days are great guys, you know.

And bigie can't wrestle, so you get big jeep. So is Aetown down under officially done? Well, I'm not sure what that was. Austin Theory. Theory, theory, theory, theory, Austin. Yeah. Remember that guy? He was the big idiot, the big jacked idiot.

Yeah, I haven't seen him. That's kind of crazy. He's been going for a long time. He has been. Yeah. That's a good thing, I think. I think that's a positive. If he comes back, are you guys still a tag team?

I'm good, dude. I'm good, dude. Yeah. That's if he comes back. I haven't heard from him. Have you heard from him? I have not heard of social media? He doesn't text me back.

Does he don't any, like, you know, when he flexes on social media? I'm seeing anything. I mean, if I look like him, I'd be flexing on social media too. Yeah, when you got 23 IQ, you've got to flex something, don't you? Yeah, but I got nothing to say about Wilson theory. That's the past. You said Aetown down and out. Yeah, that's done.

I think sometimes things run their course and you just got to move on and hang in with a new day now and that's a much more positive experience. You guys had an amazing moment, though, at Russellmania 40. Yeah. And I have to say, I have never seen someone climb a ladder as fast as you climb that ladder. I told you, athlete. there's a there's a there's a there's a there's a few reasons first of all it was so cold in philly like horrendous like obviously before the show you want to feel feel how it feels climbing

the ladders so you know me in theory go out we'll climb some ladders just make ice cold at the top of the ladder like freezing the championships like swinging like it was freezing so part of it was just i was just trying to warm up but also i just i just don't understand like why don't you just climb fast but we also does the sloth climb yeah obviously we were very smart We hadn't taken, we hadn't got attacked much yet. We hadn't got hurt with the ladders. We kind of snuck off and just waited for our opportunity. And I just climbed up there real fast and took those championships.

I don't know. More people should do it. Do you remember what happened after you grabbed that championship? I remember getting thrown off a ladder through another ladder, which absolutely sucked. I looked awful. And as I said, it's freezing cold. So, like, those ladders were like, I think that were twice as hard because they were just frozen. So that was horrible.

That looked so painful. Yeah, it sucked. And anything with the ladders in the chair. all those things are just like horrible to go through. Luckily, adrenaline is a great thing, so it kind of is minimized, but then like six hours later, like, that's when it really starts hurting. So is that hands down the WrestleMania moment for you? It has to be like how many, like how many people get to win a championship at WrestleMania?

Like, even getting an opportunity to wrestle on mania, that's huge, but getting to win a championship mania, that's super rare. So that's one, that's on the wall. That's like, is. Is there a photo without on your wall? Of course it is. For sure. Yeah, it's just like this bit.

It's just me. Just me. Just tuned in. That other guys, not in it. Yeah, but like, that's one where the best part of it was like, all my mates at home that I grew up training with sent me a video of them watching the show. Oh, wow. And then obviously, I don't think anyone expected us to win. So that was a cool moment, too, getting a shock a few people.

I feel like you single-handedly pissed off every Taylor Swift fan on the planet. That's a beautiful thing. That was one of the beautiful. And it was just like, it's funny what we do. Like, we talk for an hour today. You don't know what the 10 seconds of this interview is. that people are going to latch onto. And the same with any interview.

You never know. I just made a joke on the bump that like, it was a, if Travis Kelsey is happy settling for a six, good for him. Which is, I find 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 moms 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 it. not having lives. Then I'm looking at the mirror like, do I not have lips? Like, they got my head a little bit. You probably think about it every time you look in the mirror. But I double down on it too because I think people get stressed about when you've annoyed a fan base, especially like 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. Okay. So recently George Kittle invited a few of us. We went to, it's called Tide End University in Nashville. And all the tight ends like trained together for a couple of days and they do a few events. And he invited us to this, they did like a party one night. So me, Bailey and Seamus 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 don't know who I am. I'm like, oh man, imagine if like at some stage they're scrolling through their phone and they've seen this idiot Australian has like said a really rude thing. So I'm like a bit like, man, I'm going to have to fight Travis Kelsey. And I've

said multiple times, I'll fight Travis Kelsey. And then I see how big tight ends are, how big he was. I was like, man, like, I'm going to win, but it's like, it's going to be a scrap. I'm going to win. So I'm there with Seamus and like all, there's all these famous people up there. We met Theo Vaughn. There's all the tight ends, obviously. There's just like all these well-known people. They all know Seamus.

They all know Seamus. And 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 Kelsey comes up. And I'm, oh, here we go. And he was super nice.

Sina-esque. I'll give him Sina-esque in the sense like, He didn't have to come over and chat to us. Super chill, chatted to us for a bit. I was like, hey, man, we've got to get Jason's done some stuff. When are we getting you coming in? He's like, you know, 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. You shared a few words with her. Yeah. Boy, good sister too. She was just up there.

I guess in my head I thought Taylor Swift, she can have all these security around all this. She was just sinking beers with the boys, just hanging upstairs. And I was like, she's a good one. Good for her. There we go. Reconciliation. So everything's good now.

I think the circle's done. The circle's finished. I was like, any girl who's that famous who just sits drinking with the boys and then goes down and does a song on the floor, like, that was good. I feel like you need to go to a Taylor Swift concert now. I'm good. I'm good. Yeah, I went to one.

She sang a song in front of us. It was her in Kane Brown. What song did she sing? Was this the one famous one she has? The one thing is what she has. I think we'll shake it off. I think she did shake it off, if I remember. I'd also had Bailey, terrible influence.

Seamus terrible influence. I don't know who's worse of an influence. But together, that was bad and it was an open bar. So I have a video of the song, so that's, I do remember it. Okay, so it happened. Yeah, it did happen. I loved when you mocked Randy Orton. Yeah.

He didn't seem to be feeling that. No, the worst thing is the screenshot of it is super zesty, dude. It's such a rough. Whenever I see it pop up on my feet, and it's just like, whatever photo they've used, I need to talk to the digital guy. Like, come on, man,

can we change it to anything that looks a little bit tougher? But, like, I always say, I think the advantage that guys like me have who were fans growing up, handed in my fan card, but who were fans, we know all these guys stuff. Whereas a lot of the NXT kids coming up now are all college athletes,

they're new to the game. They don't know it all. So when I go on against Randy, and this is a mental game, because physically, it's very difficult to be Randy Orton. he's bigger than he's ever been in his life. So it's like a mental game.

I want to anger him. I want to get him angry, you know, see if he can get him off his game. Didn't work that day. Still took an RKO. But it's fun doing that stuff. And like the crowd, because the crowd's like, no, we want to do that. We want him to do that. And it's like, no, I got to do it.

I feel like you caught him off guard. Yeah. Wait a second. Yeah. I think sometimes like, I could be super disrespectful for what I need to be. And I'm like, I think one of my, if I was given a special power, it's like, I think I can kind of clue in on. on the one thing that'll really annoy you.

Like when I meet people, I know the one thing I can say, whether it's your physical appearance or something, that's why fan meet and greets are great. Because I have two seconds to, what's the worst thing I could say about you? Bang, there it is. I got like a 75 strike rate.

I was like, oh, damn. So that was, I know Randy's very proud of himself and he's very proud man. So like doing something like that, like that's something that's going to fire him up. You're a button pusher.

Yeah. That's what you are. I love it. It's so much fun, especially when I, like, when it's something like, like, because I like this thing about this stuff all week.

I'm on the plane. I'm in the shower. I'm running. I just think, what can I, if I'm ever there with this guy, you know, what would I do? Oh, if this guy, if I had a match with this guy, I'll do that. And I just bank it, just sits there waiting. And then when it gets to pay off and it works, it's like a beautiful thing. Do you have like a list on your phone?

If I ever have a match with so-and-so, here's some. I have a book. Like, I like writing things. I feel I'm memorizing. I guess it's a teacher in me. I like writing it down. And then I'll change it to my, like, a Google doc, but I have it there just waiting. So if there's ever an opportunity, I scroll through, that's the day.

I guess it's almost like a comedy act in a way. You know, you put down lines, you think of things, you put it there. Like, I think that's part of the preparation. Like people are like, you have a quick wit, which I do, but also I prepare. You know, I think there's a lot of guys who do that. Like, they have lines ready to go in the back pocket that all of a sudden something happens. They go, oh, that's that line from six months ago that I thought of because I watched that TV

show. So I think there's a lot of work that goes into having a quick wit for what we do. Have you ever thought about doing stand-up? I think you'd be great at it. Not particularly, to be honest. I love Stan. I really love stand up. I got to go to the mothership recently.

I went with Theory and Mello, which was a really good time. I prefer watching stand up. I like the storytelling aspect. I think I'd be better as a storyteller than a joke writer. I don't think I could do like the one-off kind of jokes, but I like the story element of it. The way you've been roasting some of these fans. It's a beautiful thing.

It's legendary. Yeah, it's so much. There was one. We were on commentary on Smackdown, and we must have been in the break and there was these two kids behind us just yelling, just probably like nine or ten,

just having the best night of their lives saying horrible things to the wrestlers. And I turned around, I saw the kid and I went, wow, you're really mean for a kid who has the same haircut as his mom. And, because he had a little bob,

like little mate triggered. He just sat down immediately and I was like, got him. They've got to know. Like, if you're at a wrestling show you want to yell at the wrestlers, that's great, do it.

But just know, we get to yell back. We get to say whatever we want. There was some chick in the crowd in Sacramento recently. I was wearing one of those hot girls love pro wrestling. I think they're handing them out now. I think originally like Vanessa Hudgens, she got given it because she deserved it. Now these girls are just like, they're buying it and they don't deserve it. They should be like a, I should be like the judge.

You know, I said that, yep, you can have one. Sorry, maybe mediocre girls like pro wrestling or six out of ten is like pro wrestling, you know. But she was having a great time. I'm yelling, I'm like, no problem. I get to yell back at you too. I didn't know anyone was filming that one. That one went a little bit viral. Yeah, you remember what you said to her? No, what did I? I don't. You said, uh, you said like being the prettiest girl at a wrestling show. It's like being the smartest kid in kindergarten. No one's impressed last. And I went, and I don't think she, she didn't really get it until I went, look around. There's like three

girls here. And she did the, the rule of the indie shows used to be if there was ever a good looking girl in the crowd, 100% one of the guy's girlfriends. There's no way she's there to watch the wrestling. Although I think since we've been on Netflix and stuff, we've opened ourselves up to a different audience. And I think we have a different audience than what we used to have. So there's definitely the sloppy fat blocs in black shirts who can't breathe. But now we have like actual human beings who come. I'm wearing a black shirt today. Yeah, but you're not sloppy dude. You go to gym once a week. But I think we have actual human beings coming. It's awesome. And I think we're converting a lot of people into wrestling fans because they're coming and seeing it

live. And there's a weird thing now with like people from Netflix being at the show. Yeah. So like recently, I can't remember who. I was wrestling. It was probably Penta. And I had him in this dangerous chin lock. I have a great chin lock. He was choking. And I looked up and Louise Gousman, Guzman, is it? From Wednesday was there. And then I kind of look. And then it's the whole Wednesday cast. It's just in the front row while I'm like, what is going on? So I'm just talking trash to him. I'm like, dude, I've never, you've never been good in anything. Like, look at you. You're sweating just trying to talk back to me. I'm like, what world are we living in where there's just like all these Netflix celebrities

just like in the front row of all that shows? It's good fun. You're so right. When they do the shot of like look who's here. Yeah. Like, there's a ton of celebrities there now. Yeah, and I think because they see the fun. Like,

they want to be part of the experience because they know when they come live, that was so much fun. You watch it on TV, it's awesome. I love watching it on TV. But being there live is a whole different experience. I think it converts people.

Now they want to come back. Now they want to bring, hey, you need to come and see this. Now they're bringing their friends. So we just got like, all the comedians, like UFC guys are coming constantly.

And it's also for us. Could we get to meet? Like Nate Diaz is backstage at the show last. week. And they're like, Grayson, would you like to meet Nate Diaz? Yes, I want to meet Nate Diaz. This is sick. Like, this is a cool thing with what we do. We get to meet all these people and like, and they're fans of what we do, which is crazy. Nate Diaz looked pretty good with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship on her shoulder.

Yeah, it was so funny having him backstage. He's so chill. And he had his little daughter there. And she was like getting to meet all the girls. And she was so excited. And it was like, it was interesting to see a different perspective of him because you seem he's this tough guy. Like, I'm a big McGregor fan, but that whole rivalry is like, I love that stuff. I'm not surprised. Like that's, I love that line. So getting to see him a little bit different and smile on his face when his little one was meeting, you know, Maxine and all that stuff.

That was cool. Some of you eagle-eyed viewers recognized a face that you knew on Monday Night Raw recently. Yes, I was there with my wonderful wife, RVV, Rachel Van Fleet, and none of this would have been possible without the insane deal that I got with Seatkeek. And a huge shout out to them for sponsoring this episode. With over 28 million downloads, Seekek is the number one rated ticketing app. There are more than 70,000 events listed on Seekek,

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Good. Red means bad. Plus, every ticket is backed by their buyer guarantee. And of course, I have a code for you. You can use the new code, CVV 2025 for 10% off your next set of tickets from Seekek. You guys used up the old code so they had to create a new one. It's CVV 2025 for 10% off any tickets. Make sure to click the link in the description to download the app and then that code will automatically be applied to your account so you can use it later. shout out to Seatkeek for sponsoring this episode. Do you think McGregor fights again? Never.

I just had Michael Chandler on the podcast and he's like, look, man, it seems like we're lined up for the White House show. You don't think he fights again? If that happens, I'm there for sure. I just like, man, that silk. You work for the right company. That silk sheets line is like, is so true. Like, if I had that kind of money, I don't know if I'd be taking Mexican destroyers.

You know what I mean? Like putting yourself through all this. Like, he's made it. And you watch his documentary when he was kind of. coming up. And his whole thing was, I'm going to own sports cars. I'm going to own this. And he did it. He's hungry. So like, what are you fighting for now? You have the family. You have the cars. You have the yacht. Like, you have nothing to fight for in a way. Like, the pride in you kind of dissipates when you achieve things. So like for me right now,

I'm still hungry. I haven't had a singles championship. I want it. Like, I'm waking up every morning training like a dog to get there. But I think if I had all those things, it's a lot harder to wake up that early. And that's when the young dogs come and take over. And that quote you're talking about is like it's tough to get out and train when you're sleeping in silk sheets. Yeah, and it is. It is. And that's why I'm always impressed with guys like AJ and staff who are like starting to hanging up, but like they go out and they're still doing the same thing.

They're doing it just as good. They're still training just as hard. And I'm like, that's motivation for me. It's like, you've done everything and you still want it that bad. Like, I want to feel that. When you talk about celebrities being in the crowd, Burke Kreischer, was at a show? And Burke Kreisher, he's a wild man. Yeah.

So we went out to, me in theory went out to beat up punk. And I know Bert, I've watched a lot of Bert stuff. I'm a big fan of like two bears one K or watch his stand up. So I know if I say something to Bert, he will do something entertaining. And this is off the air. So when I got the mic, I started going at Bert. I was like, well, you're taking your shirt off, your fat flop. And I was like, I think my favorite line, I don't think he heard it.

I was like, his wife was there. And obviously I know his wife from the shows and stuff. She's funny, Leanne. And I was like, if you're not careful, lad, I'm going to make sure your wife finds out that, and at the end of the night, she's going to call me the machine, which I thought was such a banging line, but I don't think he even heard it. And I was like, come on, come get it. Now, everyone thinks this was like organized. There was none of this was planned. I just was like, if I say things to Bert, he will do something entertaining and this clip will go somewhere. Like, I can make something out of it. And then he just jumped the barricade. So now me and theory in a situation of like, what do we do? Yeah. So I went outside the ring because I'm like, this is too good an opportunity not to play with it. And the best thing is like Bert had asked earlier in the day

to do something like physical in the show. And Hunter was like, if you want to do something physical, go train Orlando. And an idiot me goes out and just challenges him and he thinks it's part of the show. So then he had his belt and he's whipping his belt. And I'm like,

I don't know what's going to happen here. And I might have to fight Bert Chrysha. And if I do as a wrestler, I have to get him. I have to hit him. Like, we can't show. But then I got in, bloody punk got us with some GTSs,

which is always such a dangerous move. But then afterwards was the funny part. I hate, I hate that I'm going to do this, but I will do it a little behind the scenes. So Bert's there at the ring side, and I'm laying there, and you can kind of see it

if you watch the clip back. And I'm like, can you punch me? Because I wanted to see if maybe he could get in the ring and punch me. That'd be a great finish of the show. And he goes, bunch you! And he just hits me in the face immediately.

And I'm like, oh man. So then punk gets him in the ring and he ends up giving us these chokeslams which were extremely good chokeslammed. And I think he caught the bug immediately. Like the fun of like destroying me in theory and getting us so high on these chokes and slamming it. That was a great end to the show. And obviously it was after the show.

What a cool experience for all those people. And what a cool experience as a fan of Burt Christ are getting to do that. And then after. I was trying to find him. We never saw him that night. So I didn't want to go, hey man, was that okay that we just kind of like made that? But I think that's the magic of wrestling. That just happened.

There was no one making it happen like it just happened after the show. And that was a lot of fun. Who called the chokeslam? Of the tag team, Aetown Dunanda. Who is the bigger idiot if you think IQ was? It ain't me. That's close. I don't know.

Derry we love taking chokeslams, you know? You took that massive one. arm chokeslam from Jelly Raw. Yeah, so I think theory is a professional choke slam guy. Wow. But that's, that's kind of the fun getting these celebrities involved in. He caught the bugs.

And then he brings Tom Segura to the next show that we do. We get to finally catch out with him and talk about it. He had us on his podcast. Like a lot of cool things came from it. But Tom Segura was saying some really mean things about wrestling. Some really real things about wrestling. But, and you know, there was some tension back.

I think that some people didn't want Tom to be there because obviously he said some really horrible things about wrestling. But also he's a comedian. His job is to say, He's like me. Like, sometimes you say horrendous things. You don't mean it. You're saying things to make yourself laugh and make other people laugh.

But I know there's a few guys backstage you didn't want him there. But I know that being there that night converted Tom into a wrestling fan. Like there's a clip of him in the front row and Dragon Lee does a dive and lands on the commentary table. And you see him generally like, oh my God, what just happened? And that's what WWE does right now. Like when you come live, the experience is so good that it makes you a fan. Like you have to be there for that show. And I know now Tom and Bert, if we're ever in 10,

again, they're going to come to the show. They love it and they're going to tell whoever else. Like, it's a great thing what we're doing right now. We're converting all these big names into it. And it's all people I'm fans are like, I got to make Shane Gillis. I get to meet Tony Hinchcliffe. I got to meet Andrew Schultz. I actually said something really horrible to Andrew Schultz.

I hadn't watched his special. Have you seen his special? He's a new one. I haven't seen it. So I was wrestling Jay Uso at MSG. And it was like, that's one of the, I've never been so fired up in my life because Jay did his entrance in MSG. And obviously it's already a crazy.

crazy venue and I was backstage and I thought I was about to pass out like I kind of slipped and I started freaking out because I'm like I'm going to pass out I've got to go to this match and then I looked around and everyone looked the same like I swear on my life the arena was literally shaking with his entrance I've never experienced it in my life like the arena was moving and everyone like it felt like an earthquake oh my god like this is wild like this is him on his road to mania so I'm having this match with jay and I see shorts and I think I said to i was like man, your new special sucked. I didn't laugh once.

Like, it was horrible. I just, I hadn't seen a special. I don't know. Then when I watched it later in the week, it was like this beautiful special about how him and his wife were struggling to have a kid and how they went through all these treatment to eventually have this kid and this beautiful thing. And I'm like, man, and his wife was with him. And I was like, man, I just said this horrible thing about this really, like, sincere comedy

show that he's done about his wife and trying to have a kid. And I've just buried it, like, right to both of you. But I watched it later. It was pretty good. You have a new finisher now. Yeah, it's pretty sick. Yeah, how'd you come up with this? My thing with is I like taking moves that I see and then making them my own.

So obviously, like the rolling stunner I used to do, stunner I used to do. Stunner sick, but I do it this way. Elbow drop I do, I do it this way. And so I'd seen someone do it like standing, like just standing in the middle of the ring. Now, there's some big boys in WWE. I don't think I can do that to everyone. Some of those big boys, like, to try and get them, I don't think, I think I'd probably hurt myself. So then I was like, what if I'd do it off?

the second. And there's some freaks at NXT who like try and wild stuff. So I went down and tried some stuff out. And it's been, so I did it two years ago against Mello. And like, I've been sitting it. And it's one of those ones, save it for a special occasion. That's what they always say. And then, you know, sometimes special occasions don't turn up. So I think Australia was the perfect place to do it. I was actually wanted to use it on Penta. So I needed a reversal to the Canadian destroyer. So I was like, maybe I come up with like an Australian destroyer. Not that that's the name, but I was like, I need something flippy. Because it's, it's, disrespectful to make someone flip and land on their head. So I did to his brother instead.

Yeah, stupid lucha flops. Do you have a name for this? Not yet. A lot of people are sending me terrible ones online. There was one like the down under driver, which I just, ah, it's just like, a little bit cringe. I'll think of something. I've got to hit it on Raw first. Once I hit it on raw, then I'll give it a name. I thought that your video about life after taking the Mexican destroyer was hilarious. Yeah, I was like, for some reason I think people like forget how dangerous that movie is like like like like because everyone does it and it's such like a just everyone you watch an indie show they'll do it four or five times you took it up the top rope yeah and that was like that was one i got backstage and some people weren't happy with me

oh like don't do that someone pulled me aside and said don't you ever do that again why are the standard to you pent is the one that gave it to you i know and it was just like i understand the wrist involved and obviously i don't want to take a move like that but pent 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. And it's like, you also sold that so well. Half sold because it's like, I think sometimes you go into like, I don't want to say go into shock because that seems

super scary. But like when that impact happens and it's like, am I okay, am I okay? Like you do legitimately like check yourself like am i okay like do i feel okay obviously adrenaline's a crazy thing too so like sometimes you don't feel stuff and then a couple hours later you do so it's like sometimes it's a real like you say sell but it's real i'm like am i okay am i okay and thank god i was but you know i had to go to disney world for their Halloween thing way too easy to get a ECV that's i think that's why the the big park hoppers go and get it i thought i had to like i was like thinking do i have to bring like a medical form or something to hire this you just tell them right just go hey can i get on a

those things, they're like, yeah, I had a great day. I'm just fanging it around. You don't get on the rides first, though, which I thought was disappointed. I thought I was going to be able to snake all the kids and get on the rides first, but you have to line up in it, which is super embarrassing. And then we went and watched, like, we had to watch the parade. You know, how many WWE fans are probably like, is that, is that Grayson Waller? I know Chelsea Green was upset. She was like, why didn't I do that? I'm like, I got you on some. There was one bit, we went and watched the parade and we get this, we get a pretty good seat. And I'm sitting in it, because I can't, and then right before the parade starts,

two guys got in front of me, and I couldn't see it. And I was like, did it stand in front of me? Did you take a Mexican destroyer off the top rope? I'm going to tell them what I think. And then as I was getting up to, I was like, dude, you don't need this. You're not disabled. And I sat back down and I was like, yeah, because I don't want to be like, hey, I can't see.

And they're like, Grayson Waller. I'm like, no, like, that's, that's, that's, that's too embarrassing. So I just, I just missed half the parade. How do you feel about the Canadian destroyer as a whole? Obviously, like, so I was a huge TNA fan. I remember seeing Pedy Williams do that for the first time and being like, what did I just witness? Me too.

I thought it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. Because that was like when I, like, when they started doing the pay-per-views, like 2004, that's when I started watching. So Petey was at his A game then. So I thought it was the best move I've ever seen. And having Petey backstage now, which is so crazy, I think people don't even know anymore. I know. Which is wild.

It's kind of passed by. So that's why me in the new day, we wanted to get him involved in this whole thing. We were saying because, like, you invented this. Like, it's your fault. We have to keep taking it. Because it's like, I think it's such a fun move, but like people have bastardized it and ruined it. Like they have ruined it. And I think it's just been done too much.

Yeah. And in like, I watch a lot of like indie wrestling because I love seeing who's next. Like I love seeing that, especially Australian indie wrestling. And I'm seeing people like, I sound like such an old vet. Oh no, no, no. But it's true. It's like you throw these things away. They mean something like PD did it for so long and it meant so much.

And I think unfortunately Pence is doing that now. there's a lot of people losing to the Mexican destroyer because it's such a dangerous move. Adam Pierce should ban it, but he's too focused on other things. He doesn't worry about guys like me in the New Day. I'll sign that petition. Yeah,

I think I ended up getting like 300 signatures, which was a lot. But Adam Pierce did nothing about it, but that's what Adam Pierce does. You know, I think he's one of the worst GMs we've ever had. I think we need to bring back their laptop. The laptop was way better than that is.

The anonymous Royal GM. The anonymous Royal GM. The anonymous Royal GM would have taken care of me in the new day. Adam Pierce, he's not taken care of us. Remember when that was Hornswagel? Yeah. I like to forget that part of it.

I think we all do. Hornswoggle was just the butt of every joke. Yeah. So, ah, look, it was a little guy. Yeah, we don't know what to do with this.

It was Hornswagel. Yeah. But I think even Hornswagel probably be a bed jam than Adam Pierce. I don't know about that. Yeah. No, I think he's doing a pretty great job. Is he,

is he though? He just, he's just, cause it. He always has to be out there for it, doesn't he? Well, he's trying to keep the peace. Oh, man,

I'd love to fight Adam Pierce. I know Woods and Coffey. They get first shot, so I get third shot. You know, he was a former NWA World's Heavyweight champion. Yeah, dude. I remember, wasn't it him and Barry Windham back in 83, was it? I remember that match. That was a classic.

But I see what you mean. The Destroyer used to be a finisher. Yeah. Like, that was Petey's finisher. And when he hit it, it was over. Yeah, and it's the thing we are with, that's what we're doing wrestling. That's now, like, we've got to take those more, like, we've got to take a bigger risk now.

And that's what I was trying to do something off the top rope to Pentas. So I can't say too much because I was trying to drop him on his head. He unfortunately dropped me on my head first. So well played. I hate Pentam, man. I hate these lucha guys right now. I think it's so cringe what we're doing, AAA and all these like meme wrestlers.

Like it's bad. What do you have against them? Like, first of all, you know why they wear these elaborate, colorful costumes? So they don't go to the gym. So they wear these big costumes because you can't see that and have abs. And it's just like, I think Penters is like a broken, Woody doll, you pull the string,

Sero, meado, Sado, meadow, Sado, meadow, Sado, meadow. And it's like, if you wear a mask now, you get handed whatever you want, like, those two little idiot clowns that me and Kofi had to go down and work in Vegas, like, I don't know what's going on. And then, what's the, is it a prawn?

What's he, what's his animal? The guy with the animal on his hand. The iguana? The iguana. Yeah, come on, man, what are we doing? Like, really? You don't like Mr. Aguana. It's just like, people, people,

I hate Mr. Aguana. I'd love to slap Mr. Aguana. And I'd love to slap, what's his name? The iguana, what's his name? You'd know, you're a mark. The iguana, I'd love to stomp his head out. Like, I see that stuff. I'm like, I hate which wrestling.

You talk about wanting to win a singles championship. A lot of guys wearing masks are winning championships. Maybe I need to start wearing a mask. Maybe you need to start wearing a mask. No, dude, I'm too pretty to wear a mask. That's a good point. Some of the fans in the crowd need to wear masks, maybe that's the advantage. All of a sudden, they can wear their luch a mask.

but it's just like, I hate Lutra wrestling. I think it's cringe. Think of how many fans would be wearing masks if they weren't held your standards here. Bring back Cody Rhodes in the paper bags. Remember that? Imagine going on a wrestling show, it'd be all paper bags. But no, no, I think it's lessening.

The fans are getting better looking just because we're getting normal people coming to the shows now. And the ugly ones are slowly going, they're getting pushed further back. They're up to the back rows and stuff now, so we don't have to see them, which is nice. Sorry, I'm just popping myself here.

I think you did the ultimate heel move when you cut off Cody Rhodes, whoa. So fun. Yeah, that was really, that's one of the ones that I had to sit in there. And I was like, if I ever have an opportunity to have Cody on my show, I'm taking the woe. Because I think as a heel, you got to look at what do fans love the most? What is like their favorite part and take it? I remember I saw Brian Danielson wrestle in 2007 in Australia. And I'm an R.O.H guy.

I'm front row with my R.O.H shirt. Like, yeah. And it's him in McGinnis. So it's like, oh, what a match. Oh, God, this is the best. So Brian comes out to Final Countdown, and I'm like, this is, I've watched so many R-O-H DVDs. This is the best day of my life.

And he gets to the bit where you get to yell Final Countdown, and he cut the music. And I was so angry. I was like, I hated him. And then, like, we did streamers, and I pegged it right at his head, and I hit him in the head. I've got to find the video, like, I got good aim.

As I said, I'm an athlete. I just pegged it straight at his head because I was so angry. And I look back now, Like, that was so good from him. He came in going, what does this crowd want tonight? They want to see the final countdown. I'm going to take it away. So when I had Cody, I'm like, every kid in that crowd, like, you know, the little weird

four-year-olds and their parents dress them up as Cody? Like, they got a jacket that's too big. And they're in the crowd. Here we go. Here we go. Who we go. And I just took it away. And I, like, that was, they're the moments that make me happy.

Like, that was fun. That was really fun. It's like, how many fireworks do you need? Like, you already had the ones down there. Like, you don't need more fireworks. If anything, this is a positive for the W.E. I'm saving the money on the budget. You're welcome.

Then you took his catchphrase away from him. Yeah. That's like, oh, dude, this is where I love what we do. This isn't, that's not work. Days like that's not work. Like, obviously Cody's like, one of the biggest stars in the industry and like getting to go at him like that and be super disrespectful. And, you know, he's the kind of guy, though, like, he knows what this is.

That's the great thing. Because sometimes there's certain guys you can't do that with. Because sometimes people buy into the whole. or they don't know what this is, but obviously Cody being second generation and having his brother being a wrestler, like he gets what this is. We can have some fun.

We don't have to plan that. We can go out. I can be super disrespectful and he's not going to pull me backstage and what are you doing? Like he's going to understand, okay, you were just trying to get a rise at me. And sometimes that will actually,

that'll bring out energy in him. I've been disrespectful to him. Now he's going to come back. There's certain guys that you can't do that with because they don't understand what this is and maybe they have too much pride. I feel like it leveled you up. like the crowd was already hating you.

And they're like, wait, you can't take that from us. Oh, we do the woe. Oh, but I want to do the woe. And it's like, I did the woe. I did it. That's maybe that's what I do. I just steal whatever you want to do, I'm going to do it. Who have you not had a one-on-one match with yet that you want to work with?

Yeah. I've said it a few times now. I'm going to keep saying it. Like, right now, I want punk. I want punk so bad, dude. Because it's like, as I said, as a ROH guy, I've watched punk for a long time. I love the stuff he didn't ring him. honor. I loved when he signed

his WDW contract, I'm in Ring of Honor Championship. Like that's 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 Jay Uso and it was the day that Punk left his last job and I took a super kick and I put

a photo online of me icing my jaw with a Pepsi can. Which was just like, I sometimes like to have fun online and cause some chaos. So when he was coming over here, I was like, oh, this is going to be fun. Like, what punk are we going to get? And then we've got this like real soft punk, I think.

So I'm like, I want to find out who the real punk is. Soft in what way? So, like, I'll give some examples. Like, I go to NXT last year and he's there with Fraxian watching their matchback, giving them firm advice. And then Roxanne's there. And he's like, hey, Wolloy, you want to come watch this match? What do you mean?

Like, he's really helpful backstage and he's super nice and all this. And I'm like, I'm either going to be really disappointed that he's like softened and this is the new punk. He's just like a really nice guy now or the real punk's 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 going to do. I was like, this is going to be sick.

He's going to start causing chaos. He's going to beat up little flops backstage again. Like, I'm in, dude. But now he's just like a really nice guy and very helpful to everyone and helps everyone at NXT and does all this. And I'm like, that's not the punk that I love. And I'm like, I want to bring it back out. So I'm going to get that opportunity. And I've told him to his face.

I'm like, there's going to be a day where I'm going to stand across from you with a microphone. And I'm going to 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 going to be magic. Because I don't think I've been, I don't think we've seen like 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, like, how mean I can be, how cruel I can be and how, like, when I really, like, when I really

lock in on something, like, I'm a different breed. And I don't think I've been that recent. I can feel it, like, just talking about it right now, like, I can feel it inside. Like, that's what I need. If you want to see a different side of me, like, put me against that guy. I'll show you, like, the real me. I feel like your stuff in the ring, like, you have this, like, new aggressive edge over the last few months. Yeah, like, because I'm, and, and, and, and, and, And fair play to him. Punk's the guy who saw something recently in me, with it.

Because I'm like, I'm hungry, dude. I'm hungry. And I love what we're doing, but I'm hungry and I want more. And I'm not going to sit back. I'm not going to complain online.

I think that's the word. I hate. I think it's so cringe when wrestling. Oh, oh, fans, like tweet about me. Like,

I hate that. If you want it, take it. And that's what I'm doing. That's why I'm in the best shape of my life. Anytime I get a match, like, I'm giving everything.

I'm putting my body on the line. Like, I'm giving everything. And I go, when I get that chance, like, I'm taking it, lad. And I see these guys, like, Sena's about to go. AJ's talking about it. Like, all these guys are starting to talk about it. There's open spots coming.

And I'm going to be the one that takes it. And I want to be the guy that puts these guys out the pasture. Like, I want to take them out. I want to take their spot from them. Because I think that's the best thing you can do for a legend. I hate hand passing the torch. I want to take it. And, like, oh, man, I've, like, fire myself up right now.

I can do that. I mean this from, like, the bottom of my heart. Like, I love wrestling. And I love this and I want it so fucking bad, man. I'm going to get it. You have tears in your eyes. Yeah, dude. I'm like, I'll fire myself up.

I'm going to get it. Like, I'm going to watch this clip in like a year. And we're like, yeah, you did it. Why does this make you so emotional? I don't even know. I hate you, man. Why you do this stuff to me? I don't know.

It's because, like, I think when I went home and I saw all the boys working to get where I am, I'm going to do it for you. We take a sec. Yeah. Just ruin my career. I think it's a situation of like, I see all these guys and girls that I train with in Australia. And I see they're moving over.

They're leaving their family to move to Canada just so someone can maybe see them on the right day and they can get extra work. Like, my mate Jimmy moved to Canada to hopefully get extra work because that might be the thing that gets him somewhere. Like, that's wild. Like, I see these guys in Australia. Australia working all week. They're never with their family and friends just to get a tryout maybe.

You know, and I'm in the position where I got to make it. So now I think I have to make it further for them because like this weekend in Nashville I was with my best mate. I missed his wedding last year because I was in Australia. I was in Perth. I couldn't go to his wedding because we had Smackdown, double taping, whatever it was. I missed his wedding. I miss people's kids being born.

Like, I'm seeing their kids on FaceTime and they're like three or four now. And I haven't seen them. And it's like, I didn't sacrifice all that to not make it properly. Does it remind you of where you were five years ago? Yeah, Perth was the best thing to ever happened to me because it's like locked me in more than I've ever been. Because I saw who I used to be. I got to see my friends and family that I love. And I like, I never see him, dude.

I never see him. And it's like, it's easy to be like, oh, poor you. You work for WWE. Oh, poor you. You get to work on Raw. Like, but it's a sacrifice I think we make as international talent that people don't take into account. Like, Ria and Bronson are the same.

Like, I know Ria feels the same. She loves her family. She loves her, like, wrestling family. She never sees them because she's doing what she does. But she's doing that partly for them now because she hopes that one of them will maybe get a try out and maybe, like, because of her Zaria's here. What a cool, like, thing that she's done. Because of Ria Ripley, Zaria is now doing huge things in NXT.

And hopefully I can be able to be. that guy for someone else. Hopefully I can make a path for one of my guys to make it where all those sacrifices were worth it. And they can go, I made it. And Grayson helped me. That's a cool thing. I love that. I'm so excited for what's next for you. I can just feel your hunger. Yeah, dude, I'm going to go to the gym after this. I'm about to lift every way that exists. I hate you, you really frustrate me because you pull things out of people and you don't, you might be like a libubu, like a demon, dude. You might be like, you know, the lububus, they look all nice, but they're secretly demons, taking over society, that might be you because you get in people's head and

you get the real people out sometimes. It's a dangerous thing. I appreciate you being open and honest. No, but I think that's, one thing I'll say is I'm always honest. Even when I'm saying mean things, I do mean it. Sometimes I'll say our character, but I do mean it. There's part of me there. So, like, one thing I think it's important for us to be honest and open and show who we are, because that's what people are going to respond to. Well, there's one thing people can't deny with you and it's your passion. Like, you can see it when you're on the mic, you can see it when you're in the ring. You can see it when you're in interviews like this. Yeah, we love it. And like, I love the roster we have right now because we love wrestling and we're protective

of wrestling. Like, you want to get into what we do? Like, we earn this. Like, we love this. And, like, that's one thing at NXT that I still try and keep my foot in the door down there to, like, remind them, like, hey, this is, you have such a crazy opportunity down there. Like, you don't understand what you have. Like, I have mates who would, like, give everything for one. For one, day of what you have and you're here joking around, ha ha ha, ha, like playing ha ha. That's why I get frustrated as some NXT talent. But when I see guys like Oba and Kalani Jordan and like Kendall Gray's a new one who just

love it and work so hard, it makes me so proud and happy of what NXT is producing. And like, I think W.E is going to be on fire for a long time coming because we got those kids coming up next. I'll ask you the question that I asked you at the end of our last interview. Maybe your answers are the same. Maybe they're different. But again, thank you for taking the time to sit down. Yeah, well, it was contractually obligated.

Everybody told me I had to be here today. That's right. What are three things you're grateful for as we sit here right now? I'm definitely grateful for my mates right now. You know, I'm going to have my best mate here. The last few weeks have been awesome. Like it just puts in perspective, like, you know, there's things outside wrestling too that are really important that you've got to focus on.

And it kind of locks you back into what you do here because you do this for other reasons, too. I'm grateful for my health, you know. Mexican Destroyer could have ended my career. I could have been the fourth best member of the kickoff panel like Big E, so luckily I don't have to do that right now. I can still perform at a high level. That's super mean, dude. That's a super mean thing that I've just said.

That's made me laugh. And I'm just, I'm grateful for the hunger I have right now because some people don't have it. I think it's that, we talked about last time. It's that David Goggins energy. I got that. Me and Rio, I went and got tattoos in Belgium. I got my David Goggins tattoo now.

There it is. Locks me in. Like, I don't think everyone has that. Great shoes, too. I think it's very easy to be, like, it's never been easy to, to be nothing right now.

It's so easy to just sit at home and do nothing. You have video games, you have Netflix, you have Uber Eats. Like, you can put no effort into life and get through it. Yeah. But, like, having that hunger and that passion to do things is, like, rare now.

And I love having it. And I love finding other people who have it and, like, responding off that. I think that's a beautiful thing. And I think I wish more people would find it. Like, I say a lot of mean things about people, you know, being fat and lazy and smelly. And in some ways, I just wish they had what I had and had that push and that drive to, like, challenge themselves in a way.

Yeah, I think it's important to do something hard every day, every week, whatever it is. There's so many, and like, that's why I love Goggins and those kind of guys, because they talk about that. Like, you feel so much better after, like, at the time, it sucks. Like, I didn't enjoy running a half marathon. It wasn't fun. Like, I was hung over. It was tough. But, like, when you finish, it's just like the euphoria of, like, achieving things.

And it's like, you've obviously in a position where you've achieved great things. That means you're working hard. And I think, I wish more people would put the energy in and things like that. Oh, dude, I'm cringe today. That was great. I know what you brought out of me today. This makes me sick. This is the real grace and wall.

I'm going to go sit in a closet and just slap myself in the face. That was bad, dude. Well played, sir. I came in today. You know what I said to myself? I'm like, in the hotel getting ready. I'm like, he ain't get me today, lad. He ain't getting me to lay.

And that Chris Van Vlee, he ain't getting me today, lad. Got me again. Two for two. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today.

No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of it, but get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef?

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