Grayson Waller revealed this week who his inspirations to be a WWE star were, and it may surprise some wrestling fans.
For many aspiring wrestlers, they grew up being fans of the industry. They saw WWE legends like Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on their television screens and were inspired to begin the long and arduous journey to be WWE superstars.
Also Read: Kurt Angle Criticizes WWE For Baron Corbin’s Booking And Recent Release: ‘I Lost To Him For Nothing’
However, for certain individuals who dream of being a WWE star, it takes seeing someone who looks like them, talks like them, or comes from a similar background to be proof that they can live out what seems like an impossible dream.
WWE Smackdown star Grayson Waller is from that latter group. And during an interview with Chris Van Vliet this week, he revealed that several women from his native Australia showed him the unimaginable way to become a wrestling star from the land down under.
Rhea Ripley and The Iiconics were major inspirations for WWE star Grayson Waller
“I didn’t really watch any Australian independent wrestling. I didn’t know it existed,” Waller said [h/t Wrestling Observer]. “I just saw WWE. Then I got into Ring of Honor, CZW, Chikara, like real random American Indy wrestling. I rarely saw Australians. There would be maybe one or two here or there. It didn’t seem like a possibility. But then when I saw Peyton [Royce] and Billie [Kay] get on NXT; they were from the same school as me. And they came back and did a little seminar, and I’m like, ‘It’s possible.’”
“I think Rhea’s the one who really cemented it. Like, I met her just before she left, and then she was doing such big things. I think she showed the rest of Australia, ‘Hey, this is possible.,'” he remembered. “And that opened the door. Then you get Bronson [Reed]. You got Indy [Hartwell] there already, you had TMDK doing really good stuff before they left. There’s so many people and now I think the Australians are seeing, ‘Hey, there’s people there.’ And now we’re going to properly take over.”
Also Read: Worrisome Report Suggest Rhea Ripley May Miss Out On Featured Role At WrestleMania 41 Due To Injury
