Grayson Waller says the women in NXT are ahead of the men, and that Kelani Jordan and Kendal Grey are already good enough to headline WrestleMania.
Waller told Stephanie McMahon on What’s Your Story? that the gap shows up as soon as WWE holds tryouts.
“Where the issue down at NXT, like when we go to tryouts, is we have 20 chicks who are so good you could put them in the main event scene immediately, but then you’ve got like four blokes,” Waller said.
McMahon asked whether he thought that was something societal. Waller said it was possible, and explained which types of talent tend to succeed.
“What I’ve always said about NXT is the ones who do the best are the athlete females and the independent males. The athlete women are so athletically gifted that they’re just like, you think of someone like Sol Ruca or Tiffany Stratton or Kelani Jordan. They’re so athletically talented that sometimes it’s harder for the indie girls to compete against them because it’s just like night and day sometimes,” Waller said. “But then for the guys, we can compete athletically with some of these guys, but they can’t compete with our passion, our energy, and like what, like how much we love this.”
“So it seems like they’re the two groups that do the best in NXT, and then also I think do the best on the main roster,” he continued.
Waller said Oba Femi and Trick Williams are technically athletes, but that he doesn’t count Femi as someone who just found wrestling because he has always been a fan. He said Shawn Michaels is still trying to solve the problem on the men’s side.
“I know Shawn’s trying to work it out because we’re trying to find like the next guys, and that’s why I’m here,” Waller said. “We’re here to find the next guy. Like that’s what my job is. Like whoever takes this from me is gonna like deserve it.”
Grayson Waller on Kelani Jordan and Kendal Grey
Waller said the reaction to his NXT return promo in July has pushed the men’s division, because the women have set the standard.
“You can see the men’s division fighting because the women are killing it. The women are so good,” Waller said. “Kelani Jordan, Kendal Grey, they could be on Raw and SmackDown tomorrow, they could main event WrestleMania next year, and it would make complete sense. They’re that talented, but that’s because I’ve seen them for years work their ass off at the PC.”
“Every opportunity they have, every time I go to open ring, it’s always the same like seven to eight girls in there,” he continued. “And where are the guys? They’re not there. So, like in my head, that tells me there’s reasons why those girls [are] in those positions, and it’s because they work so hard to get there.”
He said Jordan and Grey’s match at Heatwave lit a fire under him.
“At Heatwave, Kendal and Kelani had this banger, and I took that personally. I was like, okay, now watch what we do, and like now I watch the girls’ matches on TV,” Waller said. “I’ll compete. These other guys won’t.”
Jordan beat Grey for the NXT Women’s Championship at Heatwave on August 30 in Edinburg, Texas, the same night Waller won the NXT Championship. Grey has not wrestled since. Jordan said on Busted Open Radio in September that the women loved what Waller said in his return promo.
Both champions defend their titles at NXT Halloween Havoc on Saturday, October 31, from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. Waller faces Tony D’Angelo, and Jordan faces Wren Sinclair. The show airs at 7 p.m. ET on The CW and ESPN Unlimited.
