Grayson Waller Names 3 Legends Carrying WWE Into The Future

Grayson Waller is giving credit to three WWE legends for helping shape the future of NXT.

Since returning to the brand in July, Waller has established himself as one of its top stars, capturing the NXT Championship while regularly calling out members of the roster he believes aren’t living up to expectations.

During a recent appearance on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, the reigning NXT Champion discussed the influence of Shawn Michaels, AJ Styles and CM Punk, all of whom have taken an active interest in developing the next generation of WWE talent.

Waller particularly praised Styles, who has been spending more time at the WWE Performance Center working with talent as a coach and producer.

“AJ is a big one, especially since he’s been coming down to NXT recently and producing and working in the ring with guys, and he’s really, really fun to work with because I’m an AJ Styles fan. But he lets you go and lets you do you, and just makes everything better. He doesn’t force you to do things. ‘Hey, you need to do this.’ He’s just like, ‘What do you want to do?’ All right, ‘What if we do that?’ You’re like, oh, that’s the best idea. So I wish I got to get in the ring more with him. I only had a few chances, but even him now coming down NXT and helping out.”

Waller went on to recall a recent backstage moment following his match against EK Prosper that demonstrated just how invested Michaels, Styles and Punk are in helping younger talent succeed.

The NXT Champion explained that all three were waiting behind the curtain following the match, and their reactions to Prosper left a lasting impression on him.

“When I finished the match with EK Prosper the other week, I came back through the curtain and the three guys standing at the curtain were Shawn, AJ, CM Punk. That’s three generations of guys who know how much they care about the business and how much they want to give back by the way they were when EK came through. This is a young kid who just in 24 hours’ notice got put in the biggest match of his life, and he got beat. But seeing the look on their face when he came back through tells me everything I need to know about the future of the industry because those three guys are shaping it,” he said.

The comments come amid reports of a potential major change to WWE’s creative leadership.

Shawn Michaels is reportedly expected to succeed Bruce Prichard as WWE Executive Director of Creative Writing & Talent following Prichard’s anticipated retirement from the full-time position after WrestleMania 43 in 2027.

Also during the interview, Grayson Waller opened up about his frustrations with WWE ‘fumbling the ball’ with him and his risky move back to NXT, as well as what recently happened that had him fearing WWE would release him.