Grayson Waller Discusses Fighting Tozawa & His Anti-Breakker Strategy

In a recent interview with Fightful, Grayson Waller shared some stories of his recent matches in NXT and hinted at what might be expected when he challenges Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship at New Year’s Evil. Waller shared some of his favorite moments from facing Tozawa for WWE Main Event last year and talked about studying Breakker in advance of his training for the NYE title match. You can read a few highlights from Waller’s interview below.

On his experience fighting Tozawa: “It was the best. I think with this NXT crowd, it’s the same people every week. They love it, they come every week. But you kind of get used to it. It becomes the same [vibe]. I know who’s going to sit in this seat and all those types of things. I went out there for that match with Tozawa, you look around and you’re like, ‘Wow. This is what the big time’s like.’ But I felt completely comfortable. You never really know until you walk through the curtain. You can kinda see the crowd beforehand, you can kinda hear it, but you don’t know until you walk through, and the moment I walked through, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is where I belong.’ It was proper Tozawa, too. He wasn’t a ninja anymore. It was like an actual Tozawa to fight against, which was sick. That’s where I belong, and I think a lot of people will know that.”

On his preparation for the upcoming NXT title challenge: “This is the biggest show, start off the year, NXT Championship. This is the biggest match in my career. But I knew this was coming. I knew me and Bron were heading on a collision course a year ago. So since then, I’ve watched every Bron Breakker match; It doesn’t matter if it’s on TV, whether it was at a live event at some of the coconut shows that we do, whether it’s here at the PC, maybe he’s doing some training, my eyes have been on him. So I’ve been studying that guy for a while. He’s not smart enough to have done the same thing for me. So I know exactly what Bron’s bringing to the table. He’s a machine, he should not move that fast for how big he is. So I was smart enough to know that, and I know what I’m going to do. I went home recently for about ten days, I went home, and I trained with some of my guys from PWA, my company that I work with back home because I needed people who know me and know me best and get away from the distractions because this is the biggest match of my career.”

On his tactics and intent to outsmart Breakker: “I’m being honest right now. I’m going into this — I’m always honest; that’s the thing. I’m not stronger than him. I remember the first day I walked in the PC, I went to the gym, and that dude was like, [doing some] ungodly amount of benchpresses like it was nothing. Usually, I’m faster than people, he’s faster than me. He has this amateur wrestling background. So he’s a better wrestler than me, too. I’m going to get my ass kicked next week, hands down. He’s going to beat me up. But I’m smart enough and my cardio is good enough that when it gets to that 10-minute mark, when he’s gassed, and he’s trying to bark, but he can’t get the breath out. That’s when I’m going to take advantage because I’m a veteran. People don’t realize that I’ve been doing this for a while, and I’m very, very smart at what I do. I always find a way to win. Deadline, I found a way to win, and it always happens. Bron is not smart enough to find a way to beat me.”