Grayson Waller on Being a Late WWE Draft Pick for the SmackDown Roster

– During a recent interview with FOX Sports AU, Grayson Waller discussed being a late round draft pick for the SmackDown roster during this year’s WWE Draft. Below are some highlights:

Grayson Waller compares his late WWE Draft pick to Tom Brady: “I’m not gonna lie, it was tough. You know, I sat there on the Friday night for you know, four or five hours or however long it was. I saw name after name and Grayson Waller’s name wasn’t picked. Not everyone was there. Not everyone was there. I got asked to be there. So I expected to be drafted. When I wasn’t, I was frustrated. And I had to sit that whole weekend and think about how low I felt. Then I turn up that Monday and the same thing happens. I watched the entire episode of Raw and I’m hearing these names picked – and there’s some really talented people in NXT who got drafted, but I’m Grayson Waller. I’m the number one person here. My name should be drafted on television. So I was frustrated, and I really thought that I was gonna sit there for two nights and not get picked – and I thought about Tom Brady, and I thought about that, if you watch the documentary, The Brady Six about the six quarterbacks that got picked before Tom – and I know every single person drafted before me. I know every NXT person that was drafted before me.”

On hearing his name drafted to SmackDown: “When my name was called last, I wasn’t elated. I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t crying like everyone else. They’re all just happy to get drafted. That’s their goal achieved, they’re done now. This is just the beginning. I took umbrage with the fact that I was picked last. I took umbrage to the fact that it wasn’t on television. I don’t think that’s the wrong thing, I think for me, that’s when I operate at my best – and I think when you saw when I talked afterwards, that was who I am, I was being real, I hold myself to a different standard. I’m not like everyone else in NXT who’s just happy to be in the Performance Center, or happy to be on Raw now. I see myself as one of the best and I operate best with a chip on my shoulder, so I put a whole bag of chips on my shoulder that night.”

On how his draft pick will be remembered: “I feel SmackDown got the number one pick with the last pick. This is going to go down five years from now – when you think about draft moments, there’s so many cool draft moments. I think Grayson Waller getting picked last will be a moment because I’ll be at this stage, and everyone’ll look back and go wow, how did he get picked so late?”