Grayson Waller discusses how combat sports fighters influenced his trash talking.
Grayson Waller explains what MMA fighters inspired his promo work in WWE.
Waller is one of the most brash superstars in WWE, having terrorised main roster and NXT fans throughout his run with the company. The cocky Australian star has gone toe to toe on the microphone with stars like Edge, AJ Styles and John Cena in the last couple of years.
While speaking to Submission Radio ahead of Elimination Chamber, Waller was asked how much UFC fighters’ trash talk influenced his own in the world of pro wrestling.
“Extremely, you know, like you look at guys, I think the best and most marketable UFC fighters are wrestling fans. If you look back in history, Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor, Chow Sonnen, they were wrestling fans and they used parts of wrestling for their character. And that’s why they make so much money. You have a lot of people trying to do that now, but it’s not easy what we do, you know? A guy like Colby Covington is trying his best, but I don’t think he actually knows what we do and he’s trying his best. But I took huge inspiration, even from like Muhammad Ali, Prince Nassim from boxing, just that confidence and swagger of ‘I don’t care who you are, lad, I’m going to walk in and show you who I am.’ So I’ve always taken a lot of inspiration from those guys, especially the way they carry themselves, but also like they weren’t afraid to say what they thought.”
Waller is currently set to host a special edition of the Grayson Waller Effect at Elimination Chamber with Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes serving as the guests for the show.
In another recent interview, Waller addressed how he will react if the Australian crowd cheers him at the Premium Live Event. You can read more about that here.
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