WWE NXT Champion Grayson Waller has opened up about his decision to return to the developmental brand, admitting that he feared his career was heading in the wrong direction during his time on the main roster.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Waller revealed that WWE Hall of Famer and NXT executive Shawn Michaels personally contacted him about returning to the brand. Despite some viewing the move as a demotion, Waller insisted that he was given a choice and ultimately decided that returning to NXT was the best opportunity to revitalise his career. “Shawn [Michaels] called me and asked me to come and meet up with him,” Waller explained. “I don’t see it as that because I wasn’t told to do anything. I was asked. I was given an option by Shawn, and I chose to go and do that.”
Waller emphasised that the move allowed him to remain a regular presence on WWE television while competing against some of the company’s most promising young performers. “So I didn’t look at it as a demotion because I’m on TV every week. I’m competing every week against some of the best kids in the world right now.”
When asked where his career might have ended up had he not returned to NXT, Waller jokingly suggested that he could have found himself working outside professional wrestling. “Maybe Chipotle. Maybe I’m giving out extra avocado at Chipotle. I don’t know,” he joked.
However, Waller quickly acknowledged that his concerns about his position on the main roster were genuine. He explained that watching younger NXT talent receive opportunities while his own television presence diminished made him increasingly concerned about his future. “The one thing I’ll say, and I mean it, is that I’m always upfront and honest about situations. I could see the writing on the wall,” Waller said. “They’re bringing up these kids from NXT who are super talented, and they’re giving them all the chances. I’m in the background, and it’s disappearing. You go lower and lower. You get more forgotten about. I was gone for sure.”
Waller admitted that returning to NXT was a gamble because there was no guarantee the decision would improve his standing within WWE. Nevertheless, he believed that having a consistent platform to demonstrate his abilities was essential. “So when I say I took a risk to go to NXT, it’s a risk because you never know if it’s going to work out. But I trust in my ability, and I just needed a platform,” Waller continued. “I need to show them who I am. I need to show them I love this. I’m so good. You are the guys who haven’t seen it. It’s not me; you’re fumbling the ball.”
The reigning NXT Champion added that he was determined to take control of his career rather than wait for opportunities to come his way. “I have everything ready to go, but you just don’t know. So I took it upon myself to kind of force it on them. I’m like, ‘Hey, you want to know what I can do? I’m going to show you.’”
Looking ahead, Waller revealed that his ambitions extend beyond simply holding the NXT Championship. He wants to restore the title’s prestige and recapture the excitement surrounding the brand during its acclaimed black-and-gold era. “My goal is to make this championship mean something [again]. You think of that black and gold era, the NXT title meant more than titles on the main roster,” Waller said. “That Saturday TakeOver show, more people were excited for that than they were the Sunday, and I think we’ve lost a lot of that.”
Waller explained that winning the championship carries particular personal significance because he was a fan of NXT before joining WWE and had previously been unable to capture the title during his original run with the brand. “I don’t think it’s anyone in particular who’s done it. But that title used to mean something. So I’m proud to have this. This means a lot to me personally because watching wrestling when I was starting out, I loved NXT, and that’s what I want one day. I never got it when I was here, and that burned me. That really burned me inside.”
With the NXT Championship now around his waist, Waller is focused on proving that his decision to return was worthwhile while reminding WWE officials of the talent they had previously overlooked.
