NXT champion Grayson Waller sat down with Chris Van Vliet in Stamford, Connecticut to discuss returning to NXT and winning the NXT Championship, why he doesn’t see the move as a demotion, his viral promo in NXT and how Shawn Michaels reacted, his passion for running, doing the world’s toughest mile with Ivy Nile, still wanting to go head-to-head with CM Punk on the mic, and more!

How did this move from the main roster to NXT come about?

“Shawn called me and asked me to come and meet up with him.”

So you said that this wasn’t a demotion; you took a risk. What do you mean by that?

“I don’t see it as that because I wasn’t told to do anything. I was asked. I was given an option by Shawn, and I chose to go and do that. So I didn’t look at it as a demotion because I’m on TV every week. I’m competing every week against some of the best kids in the world right now.”

When you got that opportunity to cut that promo, live mic on NXT, did you realize how high the stakes were? If this promo is a hit, you could become the NXT champion. If this promo falls flat, where do you go from there?

“That is the most important promo of my life because if it didn’t go well, I was done, and I could feel it. Shawn let me just go out and say what I wanted. 100%, he let me go out and say what I wanted. I had a version of that promo in my head for months because they’re your frustrations, you want to get them out. I remember I said to him after, he was like, ‘How’d you feel?’ I’ve never been more nervous in my life. This is easy. This is what I do. I talk, that’s my thing. I’m the mic guy. But about a minute in, there’s like a moment where I go, oh, this is [easy], and that’s when I really started feeling it. So that promo, I had to kill it. I went into it knowing I have to be real too, because if I’m not honest about this, no one is going to bite on it. There were these flop fans in the crowd doing the ‘What?’ chant for a while, but then it started dissipating and they’re like, oh, he’s saying some stuff. Oh, he’s really saying some stuff. You can see the crowd kind of change in time. At first, oh, why is he here? To oh, he’s saying some stuff that he shouldn’t be saying.”

If you didn’t knock that promo out of the park, pretty good chance you’re not sitting here as the NXT Champion

“If that promo doesn’t happen, there’s no way I’m getting interviewed by you. There’s no way any of these things are happening for me right now. That completely rejuvenated who I am. More importantly for me, I forgot what I could do. I forgot how good I was until I did that, and then I came back, and it’s like NXT saved my career, 100% saved my career, so it was very important that I came back.”

You shared a moment with CM Punk where he was backstage in NXT, and you said some things to him. It didn’t feel like he liked that very much.

“Nah, he likes the kids to go, ‘CM Punk, can you take a photo with me? Oh my gosh!’ He loves that. He loves the kids that look up to him like they’re all fans. Fair play to him he helps out at NXT a lot and he’s helped a lot of these kids, but I’m not a fan; I’m on the same level as you. I need to hold myself that way. So I don’t know if you know the NXT hierarchy now; it goes Matt Bloom, Rob Stone, Shawn Michaels, Grayson Waller. I run NXT. I’m the champion now. So he should have texted me and asked for permission to be on the show. Chad Gable, same thing. He didn’t text me. So they’ll learn over time that if you’re going to come to my house, let me know, wipe your feet, show me the respect that I deserve. I’m the champion of that brand.”

Could you imagine going head to head with CM Punk in a promo!

“I’m going to. It’s happening. Every time I come on this show. I keep saying it. I’m going to talk it into existence, but just know it’s coming.”

Now that there’s this new attitude, do you have aspirations of being a WWE Champion?

“100%. I think now I’ve established myself as a different person. Now I’m taking things seriously. I’m ticking a lot of the boxes that weren’t ticked for a long time. So when I do come back to the main roster, I hope they’re ready for what I’m bringing, because I see a gap. I see a gap in the market for a guy like Grayson Waller.”