WWE is known for having some pretty mouthy superstars over its history.
And two of the loudest mouths in recent times are the current WWE Tag Team Champions Austin Theory and Grayson Waller. Better known as A-Town Down Under, the pair have made a name for themselves using their mouths . . . and they're pretty hand in the ring, too.
Recently, the pair sat down with the Daily Star's Danny Stone to chat about Wrestlemania in London, Clash at the Castle in Scotland next month and . . . Sadiq Khan
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Grayson Waller
You have your real name [Matthew Farrelly], you've wrested on a Matty Wahlberg. How did Grayson Waller come to be and were there other options on the table?
The cool thing about NXT that people online don't seem to know, cause they always complain about the NXT names, is that we get to have some say in our names. We basically get to put forward names, which I think is a really cool thing. So, the next time you're on Twitter/X complaining about someone's name, just know they probably chose it.
For me, Waller was something that I wanted, something close to Wahlberg to connect to my Australian indie roots. Then, there's a player in the NBA called Grayson Allen and I think he's an encapsulation of what Grayson Waller is. He spits on people, he trips people over, that type of vibe. So at the time I felt like Grayson was a perfect fit for me here, and I think its worked quite well.
You have the Grayson Waller effect, a show within WWE’s programming where you interview people. Did you watch Piper’s Pit growing up, was that the inspiration or something else?
I did watch Piper’s Pit, very much so. I think there is obviously that inspiration in seeing those types of shows but for me, I want something different outside the wrestling setting. So the way I look at it, is like an American sports talk show like a Steven A. Smith talk show. That's why I had the round desk. I was wanting a little bit of a different vibe to what the typical wrestling talk show was. I think at times the talk shows become too similar. So mine was more of a sport talk show vibe.
You were on the TV show Young Rock. You’ve had interactions with the Rock online. Is there unfinished business there? What with his interactions with your tag-team partner Austin Theory?
You know I’d love to say yes but The Rocks my boss now so, now I only say positive things about my boss. I think the Rock is the greatest athlete of all time, he's a fantastic movie star, I really think he should have wrestled for the Championship at Wrestlemania. The Rock is the best, I love the Rock. He signs the paychecks!
You reacted in typical Grayson Waller fashion to the Mayor of London saying he wants to bring WrestleMania to the UK. Might you like to expand on that?
I'm not a political guy, I don't really pay attention to politics, especially in other countries. I presumes this brother was struggling a little bit, so he was doing whatever he could to get re-elected. You know, I think the idea of WrestleMania in London's cool, but I just don't think it's something that I want to do, that most of the wrestlers want to do. I've been to London. it's a depressing place, and I think WrestleMania in London would be a very depressing WrestleMania. We don't want that. So, its Sadiq, right? Well, I think you're an idiot and WrestleMania in Australia is going to be much better!
You’re a former teacher. Do you have any good classroom stories, and do you know if your former pupils watch you now?
I've had a few messages from some of the kids. It was high school which is kind of cool. When they actually found out I was a wrestler is what I often talk about. I kind of kept it separate because I didn’t want my work life to interfere.
It was the worst day of my life because all day you had students talking about this wrestling thing, and joking around, it was a tough day. The bell rang at the end of the day, the worst day was over, and then my theme music started to play and one of the boys walked in playing it, luckily it one of the good kids who made me laugh.
Austin Theory
Clash at the Castle didn't go amazingly well for you last time. Do you think you can make amends this time round and have you got any words for Tyson fury?
You know, Tyson fury, he's a world-class boxer. I could have become the Universal Champion, a Clash at the Castle. I could have stolen the whole show. I could have had that moment, but that's just a bunch of, you know, excuses. I feel like Tyson Fury, he sucker punched me. He got me. It was a cheap shot. But you know what, I respect that. I respect that. But he's afraid of Austin theory, he knows the legacy that I'm creating. He knows what I'm doing. I'm a tag team champion now. I mean, if you look at my career, I don't know when
I don't have a title in my hand. Maybe I got to come into the boxing world and slap this punk, you know, I mean he's a big guy, he knocks people out but I don't care. I win championship after championship and if you look at my resume, Tyson Fury, I’m not worried about you man, so maybe we run it back. We have Clash at the Castle again but maybe he shows up, but maybe this time he doesn't need a sucker punch because maybe he has grown some balls.
The Mayor of London has said he wants to bring WrestleMania to London, to the UK. What’s your response to that?
Well, Mr Mayor of London, this is Austin Theory. Any awards, any big celebrations that you want to have, I think I am the centrepiece for that. I think I should be standing there, if you want to put a Crown on my head as a King, that's totally okay with me. I'm cool with that. But WrestleMania in London sounds like an amazing idea and I have no doubt that every seat will be sold out. Honestly, there'll be so many people trying to go to that show, the streets will be filled. So I think going to London for Wrestlemania is amazing. Again, to the Mayor, Austin Theory here, the greatest undefeated Tag Team champion of all time. If you want to give me a Crown, call me King of London, it's on you, but It's out there.
Austin is your first name but your surname Theory is your creation. Where did that come from and were there different names suggested to you?
No, it was always, when I was a kid in the backyard on the trampoline, I always wanted to use my name. I just thought Theory sounded so cool and if you think about it, there's nobody with that last name except Austin Theory - but of course there's only one and that's why the Mayor of London, he needs to put Austin Theory on that WrestleMania card. But yeah, it's just one of those cool names.
Your finishing move changed from when you worked on the independent circuit. Did you take advice on it?
It's just one of those things where, you know, I used to kind of do the firemen carry jumping into an RKO but I kind of wanted something a little different. You know because nowadays I feel like there's a lot of moves that kind of look like the RKO, people try to mimic it more. I think slamming somebody's face into my knee, bringing them down, A-Town down, that's the way to do it.
You talked about meeting John Cena at the performance centre. Is there anything he told you that you remember to this day, like a lesson or advice that you carry with you?
Yeah, I remember being at the performance centre, when he came in one day for a meeting. He literally waited the entire time, if anybody wanted to talk to him one-on-one, and I got to talk to him one-on-one. I think the biggest thing was, I had so many questions and just wanted to let him know what he meant to me and the motivation he gave me as a kid.
The thing I took away was really just trying stuff, man, and not being afraid to fail it stuff and just going out there and don't worry about what other people think. Just really try and see where you can go and just don't have that not not comfortable thing. Always go out of your comfort zone, always find that thing that can get you to that next level. Sometimes you don't know what it is, but you can find it.
You’ve worked with numerous other legends. You’ve talked a number of times about taking the Stunner from Stone Cold Steve Austin but have you talked to him about it? Did you talk to him about it afterwards?
Afterwards he was like [adopts Stone Cold impression] “Hey kid, that's a hell of a Stunner sell right there, kid”. So that's pretty cool. You can name all the greats you know, Stone Cold, the Rock, John Cena. But there's one great that I really want to work with and I'll be fortunate, man, if I, if I could see this guy every day, it'd be amazing - and that is Austin theory, that's right.
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