WWE's Grayson Waller Comes Clean About Outburst Toward Australian TV Personnel

Earlier this year, Grayson Waller flew off the handle at an Australian television reporter. Speaking with "Insight," Waller said he felt disrespected by the host. "I hate when people disrespect what we do and treat it as a joke," Waller explained. The former WWE Tag Team Champion says that he can often find a way to make the situation less confrontational, but the studio elements were combustible. "Sometimes, when you do these morning TV they're doing 16 interviews a day, they don't know who anyone is. I understand why it happened, but it was when the sound guy, or whatever, came up and like, 'I'll take a punch' and did his little thing ... Part of it was me being like, 'I'm gonna have some fun with this, and it terrified them.'" 

According to Waller, things got hectic after the cameras went off. "They were terrified about, 'is everything okay?' And I was like, 'Yeah, I'm good, I was having fun.' They didn't know that. But I think it's something that we need to protect what we do." Waller simply wanted a modicum of respect for the punishing job. "When I'm in there and I'm wrestling Kevin Owens, he's giving me a Swanton, man that sucks," Waller groaned. "That's not a fun move, so I just wanted him to respect what I did a little bit more." 

While the situation got testy, and the animosity was believable enough to spook the crew, Waller says that the broadcaster was never in any danger of getting punched, as Waller has no interest in developing a bad reputation, or worse a criminal record. "We've seen how that went, didn't go great for Hogan. Didn't go great for David Schultz. So I don't want myself on that list," Waller said, referring to the infamous moments where Hulk Hogan choked out comedian Richard Belzer, leading to a lawsuit, or the time David Schultz slapped "A Current Affair's" John Stossel, which also led to controversy.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.