Aussie WWE star Grayson Waller wants to ‘slap Logan Paul in the face’

Aussie WWE star Grayson Waller has called out Logan Paul, declaring he’d love to slap the polarising YouTuber in the face.

Grayson Waller wants to fight Logan Paul.

Grayson Waller wants you to know he would really like to “slap Logan Paul in the face”.

You might not know his name yet but Waller is the latest Australian talent to take the WWE by storm.

The 33-year-old, a former Sydney history teacher, was drafted to WWE’s Smackdown brand earlier this month — a promotion from the NXT brand he had been with since 2021.

Waller, whose real name is Matthew Farrelly, celebrated with a shoey, but he was furious he was taken with the last pick in the draft.

“To hear name after name after name picked and it wasn’t mine, it built up some frustration and some disappointment inside me,” Waller told news.com.au.

“Hearing my name last picked was a bit bittersweet. It was great to get drafted. That’s everyone’s goal, especially from NXT.

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“I’m not happy just with being drafted, I’m frustrated I was the last picked. Now I’m frustrated and out to show the world that I should have been picked much higher.”

After slogging away on Australia’s independent wrestling scene, Waller has quickly made a name for himself after making the move to America.

Aussie WWE star Grayson Waller.

His progression through the NXT ranks to Smackdown shows Waller’s wrestling career is on an upwards trajectory, but unlike most wrestlers, he isn’t motivated by winning a championship.

“A lot of people, their main goal is championships. But for me, I never saw championships as the goal,” Waller said.

“Obviously it would have been great to be NXT champion, North America champion and things like that. But I’m the one who got drafted. I went out there and showed the world that even though I don’t have a championship, I’m the best.

“Whether it’s in the ring, on the mic, backstage doing interviews — whatever it is — I am the best and that’s why I got drafted over all these other guys.”

“I’m super happy with Smackdown,” he added.

“It’s a crazy roster and from top to bottom with guys like Rey Mysterio, Edge, AJ Styles, Roman Reigns.

“Coming from NXT, I’m basically starting again. I’m starting at the very bottom. A lot of people haven’t seen me before.

“I can’t just rest on my laurels and go out and act I’m someone, because to the Smackdown audience I’m nobody. The next few months is going to be me proving myself and introducing myself to the world.”

‘I would love to slap Logan Paul in the face’

WWE is going through a period of change, but YouTuber Logan Paul has breathed new life into the promotion in recent times.

Paul is signed to WWE on a multi-event contract and sent the internet into meltdown with an insane move at Royal Rumble earlier this year.

“I think it’s great,” Waller said of Paul’s wrestling career.

Waller would love to fight Logan Paul. (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)

“Anytime you bring eyes on professional wrestling and WWE that didn’t exist before, that’s a great thing.

“I’ve met Logan. I got to work with him a little bit. That guy is a genuine athlete. If anyone’s seen him in the ring, he is very, very good at what he does.

“Anyone who hates on Logan Paul for being in WWE, you are an idiot, because he’s doing a lot for this company and this business.”

Waller would love to either join forces with Paul in a tag team, or settle the scores against him in the ring.

“He’s someone I’ve been compared to in some ways,” Waller said.

“We both do crazy stunts, wild things, we both love social media. It’s a collision course either against or together with Logan Paul.

“I would love to slap Logan Paul in the face. I know a lot of people have the same thought as I do. That would be a great thing.

“I saw he was in Australia for his energy drink and he did a shoey. I was like, ‘OK son, that’s kind of my thing. It’s cool you’re repping the Australian culture but the shoey is my thing’. “Next time I see him we might have to have words.”

Plan to claim ‘Australian championship’ off America

While he’s not fussed on winning belts, Waller said there would be nothing sweeter than winning the US WWE title off current champion Austin Theory and renaming it the Australian championship.

“The United States championship is a title with some incredible lineage — just having that belt is huge,” Waller said.

“But for me as an Australian, what do I get from being a United States champion? I live here, there’s some really good looking women here who are going to give me a green card one day. “But when I look at that championship, I’m like where is the Australian title? There’s been the European championship, all these things, but never one like that.

“That’s would be fun, repping Australia. I think about how much Americans would hate it if I would rename their championship and walk into their stadiums as the Australian champion.”

‘This isn’t a persona’: Brash Waller isn’t fake

Waller was rewarded for his fast-talking and unashamedly confident style with his own TV show, the Grayson Waller Effect talk, where he interviews wrestlers backstage before their matches.

“I love talking, that’s pretty evident,” he joked.

“I genuinely love this business the more I can talk about it, the more people are going to be watching and supporting.

Aussie WWE star Grayson Waller.

“It’s a fun segment. I say things people aren’t expecting. I’m saying the wildest things imaginable.

“Maybe I’m doing it to get in an opponent’s head, maybe I’m trying to start something between two people I’m not even associated with, maybe I’m doing it to go viral on Twitter, you don’t know.”

Waller is a classic ‘heel’, a wrestling term that describes a villain that doesn’t mind embracing the hate.

He has attracted some haters for his brash confidence, but Waller says he’s just being himself and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“To be honest, it’s not a persona,” Waller said.

“This isn’t a character. This is me. I’m just unapologetically myself. I couldn’t care less about haters. It means I’m good at what I’m do. I don’t want no fair weather fans.

“I’ve got a lot of day one supporters. I’m just very good at what I do and very honest. Some people like that, some people don’t and I’m not going to change.”

Originally published as Aussie WWE star Grayson Waller wants to ‘slap Logan Paul in the face’