WWE Superstar Grayson Waller Interview -- 8/18/23

WWE Superstar Grayson Waller joins Jon Jansen to talk all things #WrestleMania coming to Philly in April 2024, talks about his week promoting WrestleMania all around Philly including at the #Eagles vs. #Browns preseason game at the Linc Thursday night, and more.

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
Happy Friday on the Daily Ticket,Fox Sports and The Gambler All the weekend.
Cannot wait for the weekend, butwe got plenty on the show today,
so I don't want to waste toomuch time because not only are we
gonna have college football previews for you, but we are also going to play
the latest episode of the Union Soccerpodcast. It was all post messy.

(00:25):
It was the podcast after I thinka couple of days after we recorded this
messy coming into Chester and the falloutof that, and there is a lot
of fallout. It isn't just messy, I think handing it to another MLS
team, I think there's a lotmore to go into than that, and
we're gonna do that on the Unionsucker Pot as well. We're gonna play
that at five o'clock before I getinto all of the schedule. First coming

(00:48):
up in just a few minutes,we are going to get to an incredible
interview that I did. And itwasn't incredible because of me, incredible because
of the person I interviewed. WWE'ssuperstar, Grayson Waller, and of course
he is here to talk all thingsWrestleMania, and you would think WrestleMania it's

(01:08):
a ways away. Why are wetalking about WrestleMania, Well, WrestleMania tickets.
Jess went on to say, howabout this just went on sale today,
So obviously we need to talk aboutSemania. We need to talk Mania
with Grayson Waller. So we're gonnado that in a few minutes. But
first before he gets that, didhave Obviously the Eagles game last night,

(01:33):
it was boring. It did notgo well. It was a terrible game,
especially in the first half. Now, the first half was a little
bit boring, mostly because of theoffense. Defense came up and did pretty
well, especially in Koby Deane.Nikoby Dean had a forced fumble which the
Eagles recovered, and that's what youwant to see, Nakoby Dean being instinctual
making big plays. It was reallyencouraging to see. I don't even care

(01:56):
if it's against the second string thatis. That is the type of play
that we saw from d Kobe Deanlast year when he had a few snaps,
what we've seen from him in Georgia, and now that we see it
in the preseason as well, it'salways good to see. But I also
think that really the big question nowis backup quarterback Marcus Mariota did not have

(02:17):
a good game. Honestly, Ithink Marcus Mariota might be cooked. I
think he was cooked at last yearat Atlanta. Atlanta has issues obviously,
and they're going to be probably nota great team this year again, but
still Marcus Mariota was part of theproblem. And Mariota wasn't good at the

(02:38):
end of his time in Tennessee.Now when he was the backup with the
Raiders, he came in, hadsome okay games when he did come in
for Derek Carr, but it wasn'tanything spectacular. Marcus Mariota just might not
be good anymore. And it seemslike it's an okay backup quarterback because he's
a veteran, but I'm not surehe's the right vet to have there,

(03:00):
and I think there is now conversationsthat need to be had about Mariota and
whether or not he should be thebackup quarterback. Of course, Tanner McKee
has had an incredible preseason, soI think Tanner McKee would be the easy
one to try and replace Mariota with. I just don't know if you want

(03:21):
to do that with a rookie.It's a rookie who is not the highly
most touted quarterback. He's got somethings to work on. He's got good
ball play smith, he's got agood arm, but he's not a great
athlete. I don't know what thisoffense would look like with Tanner McKee.
Obviously when you get into the regularseason. It's one thing to do it
in the second half of a preseasongame and game number two of the preseason.

(03:43):
It's another thing to do it inthe regular season. And I don't
know if the Eagles want to takethat chance. Now, there are some
veteran quarterbacks in the market, andthe one name I keep seeing over and
over again is Nick Foles. Iwouldn't be opposed to that. I would
just I would be hesitant on itbecause I don't know if there's really You
would have to think Marcus Mariota isthat bad, And like, if Eagles

(04:04):
make the decision, I think theyhave to move on from Mariota, then
okay, then you look at Ithink Chief Daniel is still available. I
think Nick Foles makes a little bitmore sense if Nick Foles is still laying
the play. The thing I kindof caution with that though, is falls
is also kind of cooked the guy'sthirty four. He didn't play well in
two games in Indianapolis. Yes,it was Jeff Saturday's Indianapolis team at that

(04:28):
point, but still we've been kindof seeing in Chicago. We saw it
in Indianapolis for the two games towardsthe end of the season. It guy's
just not a good quarterback anymore.Obviously, you would want the veteran experience.
It helps that the fan base loveshim, but I would caution that
again, if you want to moveon from Mariota and the Eagles have to
make that decision, I'm okay withthat, and replacing him with a quarterback

(04:53):
like Nick Foles, I'm fine,But I think I would have to be
very convinced that Marcus Mariot just can'tplay in this league anymore, because then
you're turning it over to another guyin Nick Foles or somebody else like Chase
Daniel, who also probably doesn't haveit anymore. So I would at least
try and stay with the guy youhave now as long as you can.

(05:15):
But look, if it keeps snowballinglike this, that's obviously not very good.
All Right, You were tuned intothe daily ticket coming up at four
o'clock, we're gonna have a coupleof college football previews for you along with
at the end of this hour,we're gonna have a college football preview.
So three of them, the SEC, the ACC and the Big Ten previews
are gonna hear on the show todayat five o'clock again the Union Soccer Podcast.

(05:38):
But right now, I interviewed GraysonWaller WWE's Grayson Waller as we are
getting ready for WrestleMania here in Philadelphiaat Lincoln Financial Field and WrestleMania forty returns
to Rawl or it returns to Phillyfor the first time in twenty five years.
Witness your favorite superstars from Monday NightRaw and Friday Night Miss SmackDown as

(06:00):
they take the stage at the Showcaseof the Immortals. Tickets are on sale
now, no more pre sales.No, we're trying to get pre sale
codes. It is now. Getit now to make sure to go to
ticketmaster dot com. But again,I talked with Grayson Waller. He made
fun of me a bit. Wetalked about Australia, who seems to be

(06:20):
at the top of the world thiscountry right now in entertainment and also get
to talk Grayson Waller and some ofthe things that he's seen in some of
the sites he's seen in America,including he's been in Philadelphia for a few
days and I think you'll be surprisedabout what he says about Philadelphia. So
here it is WWE superstar Grayson Waller, Welcome back to Fox Sports The Gambler

(06:43):
John Jansen Here you can follow meat j Jansen thirty four. Also Fox
Sports The Gambler on Twitter at Foxphl Gambler. And if you have been
seeing on our social media accounts WrestleManiaticket pre sales, WrestleMania forty returns to
Philly for the first time in twentyfive years. Witness your favorite superstars from
Monday Night Raw Friday Night SmackDown asthey take the stage at the Showcase of

(07:05):
the Immortals. I think it's goon sale this Friday, August eighteenth at
ten am through ticketmaster dot com.They'll miss the presale taking place right now.
The code is Fox again for thepresale, the code is Fox and
joining us right now. Who ishopefully going to be on the card will
be on the card. I'll saythat it is Grayson Waller WWE superstar,

(07:26):
also the host of The Grayson WallerEffect now also the Grayson Waller Rub.
I've seen you been talking about that. Am I going to get the Rub?
Two? Is this considered part ofthe Rub? I don't know if
I should say this on ABB Yourboss actually called me specifically to come in
to help you out. Oh Ineed that the Grayson Muller fick. It's
such a great talk show. You'reso good at what you do. Do

(07:46):
you mind coming in and helping him? He's a bit nervous, like he
struggles a little bit, And That'swhat I'm here to do. I'm a
good blog people site some things online, but I'm gonna go here. I'm
here to help you. Yeah.Yeah, you're you're helping the new kids
on the block. And you've gotthe radio voice. Thank you, I
thank you God, because if youdidn't have the radio voice and that was
just what is? What are somelife changes I can expect from the Grayson

(08:07):
Waller up. Yeah, you mightactually have some girls to talking to you,
because they'll be like, if Italk to him, he you know,
he might he might get me throughto Grayson. I think mainly,
I think it's your confidence. Like, see, look you've got your arms
crossed right now. You're not comfortable, you're a bit nervous. Like we've
got to push past that man,Like, yeah, you're you're a five
man. Don't listen to anyone else. Okay, you're doing well. You

(08:28):
know what I'm doing well. I'vebeen calling incredibly average before. Really five
is great. I apprecredibly Okay,yeah, I appreciate that. So you've
you've been in Philly. I justlearned from another radio show that you are.
You're an Eagles fan and the Eaglesdoesn't help that there is also an
Australian on the Eagles are. Ithink that helps a lot. I actually
met Jordan my Ladder the other day. He got a big guy. But
you're used to seeing giant wrestlers.That guy is very big. Yeah,

(08:52):
and I used to think I wasbig, and then like I think was
Dennis Kelly was there, and thenLane Johnson, Myles Garrett too. That's
credit to the Gills. But JordanMyles actually from here. We live like
five minutes from each other in Australia, very small town called Bankstown. So
it's kind of wild that like thetour of us are in certain stages in
their life type of thing. Bothin Philly killing it. So it was

(09:13):
cool meeting up with Jordan's. Yeah, and you see very prideful being from
Australian. Obviously, I think theentertainment world has seen. We've seen a
top actor actress in Margar Rabbie takingover the box office. We even saw
an Australian horror movie taking over thebox officer as well with the hand Ye
and then Ria Ripley. You whatis it like seeing because you are very

(09:33):
pride for where you come from andyou make it known that I am an
Australian wrestler. What is it likeseeing kind of all the other entertainers including
yourself? Dude, It's so coolbeing like growing up in Australia. Whenever
you saw Australians, you know,it started with like Crocodile Dundee. I
guess he was the first famous one, which kind of sucks in a way.
It was like a character caricature ofwhat Australians were. But now you're
starting to see with like Margo andcertain actors and like Jordan Malata, athletes

(09:56):
Volkanovski and Rob Whittaker in the ufcRia Ripley. Obviously in w you're seeing
who the Australians really are and that'sreally cool and for me personally, like
I'm very thankful for where I come. I love my country and I've kind
of given it up to chase thisdream, you know. So the one
thing is I'm always going to giveback and if any I can open up
any doors for any other Australians tocome over here and show who we really

(10:16):
are. So I think for along time, you know, shrimp on
the Barbie, our back steakhouse,all those terrible things that aren't actually Australian
in any ways, that's not Australian. Onion into our back steakhouse the other
day because they have this new Ihate put them over. They had this
new Tim Tam. I don't know, have you ever had a Tim Tam
before? Is like this chocolate biscuitfrom Australia incredible. So they had a

(10:37):
Tim Tam dessert. I was like, finally have something Australian. And I
looked at the rest of the menbloom and like, what is that is
that? That's not that's not thething nothing on there like American. Let's
just dumb Americans trying to pretend they'reAustralian. That's exactly what it is.
So I'm trying to show the worldwhat real Australians are. Like, Yeah,
and you you saw a beach inAmerica. I saw you tweeted.
I knew you were not you werenot pleased. You're not happy with the

(11:00):
beach. No. The thing is, like, I live in Florida obviously
has some very nice beaches, likeAmerican level. You know, I go
there and I'm kind of judging themfrom from what I used to have in
Australia. You know, in Australiayou can there's obviously the trusty beaches,
but there's all down the coast.You can go to beaches and be there
by yourself, and if anyone fromAmerica was there, they'd be like the
greatest beach they've ever been too.So I've come from a very lucky place.
But now I get here and peopletake me to the beach and I'm

(11:22):
like, there's rocks everywhere, there'sno waves, Like all the girls walking
around are like three hundred and fiftypounds, Like what I miss Australia.
Australia is a beautiful place. Youknow it is. It is very beautiful
and imagine a bit of a cultureshark sometimes when you're traveling around Philly.
Was that a culture shark to you? Was that something that was Wow?

(11:43):
What is this place? Where amI at? Right now? I think
I've been around enough that I'm startingto learn. But I think Philly in
a way is somewhat very Australian,especially with like the banter is a big
thing in Australia, you know whatI mean, Like we we say a
lot of wild things, but it'salways you know, mean things to your
face, good things behind your back. That's kind of cultural fidel, which
I think is very Philadelphi in away where like up front they're going to
say some things to you, butlike then behind your back that was he's

(12:05):
actually really nice. But like that'smy kind of vibe right there, Like
there's a lot of fun. SoI think Philly has a very Australian vibe
in the way that like you canjust band it with anyone. Everyone's pretty
everyone's like polite, not that they'regoing to say please and thank you,
but like you can chat to anyone, they're going to have a conversation with
you. Which doesn't happen everywhere inAmerica. New York whole. I hate
New York. New York's the worstplace to hear that. Yeah, I'm

(12:28):
not a fan of New York.So that that's the vibe there New York.
You say a load to anyone,they're like, why are you talking
to me? You know, theyhave that type of vibe and that's just
not me. What do you thinkabout the Philly crowd because obviously it gets
a lot of attention and it's goingto have a lot of attention during wrestle.
Mean, yeah, obviously, butPhilly crowd is that tough to you?
Philly crowd? So the only timemy first raw was actually in Philly,
I got to do something with ajStyles, and they were on me

(12:50):
because they had no idea who Iwas. I was coming from NXT and
at that time I didn't really evenhave a name in n XT, so
that crowd was on me. ButI appreciate it. I appreciate audiences that
put been into knowing the product,you know what I mean, And they're
not afraid to cheer the people theylike and boo the people they don't like.
They don't kind of follow the statusquo and that's cool. So if
they have someone that they support,they're going to cheer them, and that's
part of the fun thing. Likeespecially WrestleMania, anyone who's a fan is

(13:13):
going to be there from Philly,So I'm excited to see who they like
who they don't. They're not goingto have anyone telling them, hey,
boo this person, because if theywant to get behind someone, they're going
to get behind them. And that'sthat's kind of the fun where the crowd
becomes like the third person in thematch and you never know how they're going
to react to the unpredictable crowd.That's the best. Like that's the ones
you go on YouTube and you watchthis crowd reaction, this crowd reaction.
You know you're not You're not lookingat those type of crowds all the time.

(13:37):
No, no, no no.You just mentioned AJ Styles there,
so you've seen that. There seemsto be a bit of a theme with
Greece and Waller. You've seen Mashootfor the Stars. AJ style has been
around the game and a veteran inwrestling. John Cena, I've been around
and wrestling as well. Edge alsothe Rock. A lot of people that
you seem to be rubbing feathers.And also I just saw as well Remysteria
won the United C Championship and youseem to have some poms with that.

(14:00):
What it is about these veterans thatseems to be ruffling your feather I think
there's two ways to look at anumber. One, like, I'm a
smart guy. If you're coming upfrom NXT and you want to make an
impact, why would you not getinvolved with these guys? And one way
to do that is to say reallyhorrendous things about them online. You know
they're doing a good job, andthey'll get there a lot of a lot
older, they'll get their hand,let it go through their Twitter feeds and
pass it onto them, probably readit out. You know, they probably
have someone they pay to read tweetsout to them, that type of thing.

(14:24):
But that's one way. But thenalso for me personally, like getting
in there with them, regardless ifI like them or not, Like I'm
going to learn something from them,and I have certain goals and aspirations.
I'm not here to be good,I'm here to be great, and I
think the only way to be greatis to be in there with people better
than you. And in NXT,I've got to a stage where there was
kind of a turnover where now I'mthe veteran in the matches and that's not

(14:46):
what I want for right now.So right now I'm getting the opportunity.
I got in there with the edge. I got in there with Jauso,
who's been around for so long tooin the ring were Sena. That's pushing
me to be better because I'm inthere with people who are who are better
than me, and I think that'sgonna be something I look back on laiter
down the road when I've become theveteran that I'm going to this this is
what got me here. Yeah,And I was watching an interview and again
the lofty goals. I knew youhad a goal in two years you wanted

(15:07):
to be the biggest Australian wrestler.Then when you got the WWE and two
years you want to be the biggestWWE wrestler. WrestleMania is always a goal.
What's the goal for you? Whatis something you aspire to do for
WrestleMania forty and field. It's funnythat so that WrestleMania is gonna be very
close to that two year mark thatI kind of kind of put forward for
myself. But I don't think there'sany point of having goals if they're not
lofty, Like if you just gosaying, oh, I want to go

(15:28):
to the gym today, great,I'm a W superstar. I can't have
simple goals. If I have simplegoals at WW Superstar, I'm just going
to be another guy. I alwayssay that to like certain people. It's
like, do you want to bea WW superstar or do you want to
be a great one? Because thereis a huge gap in between that.
So we wrestle Mania I've never performedlast year after sand Deliver, myself and
Kamla Hayes, we got to sitand watch up in the skybox and watch

(15:52):
WrestleMania in front of us and watchthem perform. And we looked at each
other and it wasn't a situation oflike, Wow, this is so cool.
It was that's where we're going tobe next year, Like we told
each other that, and and that'smy going to be able to do in
Lincoln Financial, which I've watched onTV for so long, like being an
Eagles fan like that that It's justwild to me how things kind of work
out in some ways, and Idon't know how the world works, like

(16:12):
I'm not a spiritual person at all, but it's like sometimes things fall into
place and I think there's a reasonthat this is going to be my first
wrestle. Meaning now I got tomention that real quick because we're with Grace
and Wallacker. You're on The Gambleron Fox Sports. The Gambler in Philadelphia.
So you are an Eagles fan whowas also Australian. How does that
happen? So when I was young, because the NFL isn't big in Australia,

(16:34):
like I'm a big fan. Thegames are on like starting two am
Monday morning, so if you wantto watch them, there's not really going
to get opportunities, you know whatI mean. So for me, when
I was younger, I was playingMadden US Donovan McNabb I like the Eagles.
Then like as I kept following themmore, like DeShawn Jackson was like
my favorite player of all time mainlybecause I'm Madden. He was super fast,

(16:56):
so you just always got to givethe speed and Madden he just flies
the other thing you passed to him. And then probably in the last you
know, like ten years or so, I got into it more and then
it was more readily available to watch, especially with the Internet and things like
that. So now I'll watch everyEagles game. And now my life is
great because I live in America.So Sunday afternoon, I can go down
the bar down the road, takemy dog with me. I guess didn't
have some beers and watch the Eaglesplay. And last year was a lot

(17:18):
of fun. A lot of funwatching them play. So yeah, I've
seen you not impressed with all Americansports there. I know you went to
all. The problem is you wentto a baseball game in New York.
Yeah. Yeah, there's like abucket list thing. I was like,
you gotta go see the Yankees,and you know, well to go to
the Phillies game and then that'll beYeah. I was there about four hours
and there was about I think therewas two minutes of interesting things happening.
It was two home runs, sothat was really fun. I got up

(17:41):
and cheered, and then I satthere for the rest of the time just
waiting for something else to happen.So I live sport is always better.
That's why I always try and getit to like baseball on TV I can't
watch, but if i'm there it'sa bit more of a fun experience.
There's music, you can have afew beers. It's very similar. I'm
a cricket fan in Australia, soif anyone knows about cricket, it's the
same as baseball, but it goesfor five days rather than three hours.

(18:03):
So I can't really talk too muchtrash about games. But that's because I
like going there live with my mates. You know, you're having a chat,
you're yelling at the players on thefield. It's like a live event
experience rather than like watching it onTV. I love the different cultures and
where Austrailian can watch cricket for fivedays and baseball is like, yeah,
we need to shorten this to halfhours. We need to shorten the game
up. So the thing is atlike when you go to the cricket you
don't even end up watching the game. Like there's a big thing where we

(18:26):
always try and get the longest beersnake. Snakes are always huge. There's
a new thing where someone will comeyou have to buy beers in like a
thing of four and the guy willcome down and people will start feeling him
and start cheering, and you putthe pressure on to see and to force
this guy to skull to drink fourof these beers as quick as possible.
And it's just like a new thingthat's happened on social media in Australia where

(18:47):
you're at the cricket. You're noteven watching the game. It's more about
just like having fun. Yeah,so because there's been a lot of that
in sports too. Aaron Rodgers famouslydid not drink a beer very fast and
he gave like the hold up,guys, wait a second for me.
If you were on the jumbo tron, Yeah, I think you're going to
the game tonight like a financial FieldEagles Brown's preseason game. The camera comes

(19:07):
on you. How do you thinkyou would do? I'll go to do
a shoey that. Yeah, I'llgo to the shoe. What is a
SHOEI? How do How does aSHOEI come about? And is there is
there any hesitancy like oh, thisthis is a shoe. It's kind of
become a it's become like a culturalphenomenon. I think it kind of started
like Tatoo with Us is one ofthe first people I saw it from the
USC Dan Riccardio, the Austrian inthe in the f one where it became

(19:30):
a thing where they would celebrate victorieswith doing a shoey. And now it's
kind of become a thing with aShowan's where when we celebrate we we do
a shoey. And now I don'teven think anymore. It's just become a
thing like I did it. Andnow do you have a reserve shoe on
the side or is it like you'rejust taking the shoe you have if you
if you want to be a player, you know, and do a fake
shoey, the clean one, butokay, you got you gotta have the
one that you're wearing, the onethat you've been walking around in that and

(19:52):
then you got to put it backon and then the rest of your night
is like that. That's that's partof the exchange. You get to think,
I gotta have some fun and dosome crazy things. I don't know
if I can do that though,I don't know if I can. Well,
I don't know if you can beActually I've talked to Jason Kelsey at
training camp the other day and actuallyI asked because he was asking me Australian.
I say, I have you've doneit showy? Yet he was very
open to the idea. So I'mhoping what I want to see is like

(20:12):
after the super Bowl next year,when the Eagles win, I want to
see Jason Kelsey doing a showy outof his game warm shoe That would be
the greatest. Maybe Jason Kelsey Greeceand Waller Shoey at WrestleMania. Don't don't
because there's little things in the inthe in the bucket list, they're there,
and that's one of them right there. I think Jordan Malata would probably
participate in that too, I think, I think so yeah. I think

(20:33):
to be fair, if you wantto Super Bowl, I think you'd be
willing to participate in almost any typeof celebration. I think that's a certain
type of a hibe. But wealso got I think the punch is Australian
now too, so the Australian siposships. We're trying to take over the
Eagles apparently a little bit. Ithink Australias, you're trying to take over
America. It seems like we reallyhave a global war. That's why we're
smart. We send in Margo Robbie, and then all of a sudden,
Americans are like, yeah, youknow, we really like Australians. All
of a sudden, we don't knowwhat it is. Can you believe that

(20:56):
on social media there was a thinggoing around? There may be Robbie is
not that great. I got sofrustrated. So when I was a teenager,
there's a showing a show called Neighbors, which is like a soap opera,
and she was on Neighbors. Hercharacter was called Donna, and so
she was the similar age to me. I had the biggest crush on Donna.
That was your crust. Then tenyears later she's got even hotter and
people are online and you know whoit is. It's always the ugliest blokes.

(21:18):
It's always the most painfully plains likeme. We're talking about three work,
going like judging this this absolutely stunninggirl and she doesn't have social media,
she doesn't care, And I'm like, I get it. Some girl
broke your heart in high school andyou haven't recovered since, so you've got
to talk bad about women. Butwe're going to Romaga. Robbie is is
absolutely stunning. She's she's a tenand I think after after the success of

(21:41):
her latest movie. I don't thinkshe's going to care about Yeah, I
think she's probably crying into a hundreddollar bills in the mansion. I don't
think she's having too tough a timeright now. Well that is Grayson Waller
w w E Superstar. Thank youfor joining man. Always always appreciate having
you guys around town and can't wait. WrestleMania is my favorite day of the
year, my favorite week of theyear, and I'm excited to see you
and the rest of the superstars inthe ring at Lincoln Financial Field. Tickets
on sale. They're coming out ofbreaking effect. Taken over Lincoln Financial Field.

(22:03):
I can't wait till next year.Taken over ticketmaster dot Com. Tickets
on sale Friday. More of theGambler coming up next