Stunning transformation fuelling Aussie’s career reset

Australian pro wrestler Grayson Waller has hit the reset button on his career, spearheaded by an incredible physical transformation years in the making.

The talented Sydney product has been signed with WWE for the past five years, enjoying his fair share of success, including capturing championship gold at WrestleMania two years ago in front of a packed Philadelphia stadium.

However, by his own admission, Waller’s career has stagnated over the past year.

As a result, the 36-year-old has taken a step back with the end goal of taking multiple steps forward, seemingly re-joining the NXT roster where he will mix things up with the best young developmental talent in the company.

Last week, the brash Aussie put the locker room on notice with a scathing promo that earned high praise from WWE legends John Cena and CM Punk.

Waller reflected on where things have gone wrong in his own career and labelling it as embarrassing, before sending a clear message to WWE’s younger wrestlers by questioning their work ethic and desire to make it to the next level.

It was a moment that made waves on social media and was a clear reset for Waller’s career - but the shift hasn’t happened overnight.

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While being placed on the WWE backburner for the past 12 months and relegated down the card, Waller started looking for ways to improve.

The most obvious change for Waller has been physical - something he has gone on the record about numerous times - getting in the best shape of his life.

He’s pushed himself to limits few of his peers could imagine, which was evident earlier this year when Waller set himself a challenge to run four miles (6.4km) every four hours for 48 hours straight - totalling at 48 miles (78km).

Speaking to nine.com.au earlier this year, Waller explained the reason behind the mammoth challenge and why he is continuing to push himself physically and mentally in the hopes of gaining the spot within WWE that he craves.

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing to want more, I think that’s a good thing, especially if you do it in a healthy way,” Waller, real name Matt Farrelly, said.

“I’ve always kind of wanted to do something like that.

“I’m a big David Goggins guy and having that type of mentality is really good for what we do in our industry. I just got to a stage where I kept saying to people I really want this and I’m chasing it and it was like I wanted to prove it.

“I thought that was a great challenge to mentally see if I really did want it and I found a lot of motivation and a lot of hunger from it.

“I think it was the perfect time for me to do it. I wanted to do something that no other wrestler is doing and like no other wrestler is even thinking about doing.

“I think all these other wrestlers talk about working hard and I don’t know if they actually do, so I wanted to make sure I prove that I do.”

With his mindset shifting and Waller of the belief nobody is going to outwork him, the rest of this year feels like a golden opportunity to cement himself.

The nature of the wrestling business means Waller - nor anybody on the WWE roster - have fate in their own hands, but he’s leaving very little to chance.

And when WWE officials decide to return to Australia - whether that be later this year or sometime in 2027 - Waller is adamant he will be heavily featured.

“I feel like the reactions I got in Australia last time showed them a lot and I don’t think they were ready for that,” he said.

“It was great, and when we do go back - I know it’s coming soon - I’m not gonna stop until I’m in the position that I think I need to be in.

“It’s a tough feeling not being on those big cards, but for me personally, I’m using it as hunger ... I’m not gonna let anything get in my way.”

Along with his own goals, Waller has been determined to lift other Aussie wrestling talent at every turn.

He was on deck when a handful of hopefuls attended a tryout in Orlando earlier this year, posting a photo with local independent standouts Ricky South, Scott Green and The Tuckman, with the latter two reportedly signing with WWE.

Waller, a product of PWA in western Sydney, believes there is still plenty of “untapped potential” in Australia when it comes to wrestlers going global.

“I mean, I’m not surprised - I’ve been telling the guys who run the tryouts for ages, how much better the Australians are,” he said.

“I think the American indie scene’s kind of been picked dry now, there’s so many big companies, people are all over the place - so there is untapped potential.

“Ricky is someone who started three months after me, so we’ve been training together for a long time. Then you have Scott Green and The Tuckman [real name Tyran Tuckey], when I went to the tryout, I was there the whole time to watch them and they did so well and really represented Australia well.

“It shows how good our training and everything is, because the moment they got in that ring, they were better than anyone else there and it wasn’t even close.”