Grayson Waller Recalls Being One Of Two NXT Talents Who Knew Who Nigel McGuinness Was

Grayson Waller recalls being one of two NXT talents who knew who Nigel McGuinness was and took particular care in the advice that he bestowed on them.

Nigel McGuiness served as a commentator in WWE for several years, mainly being a part of the NXT brand’s programming. McGuinness is also a long time veteran of professional wrestling, and is a valued mind of the business to this day.

Waller spoke about his relationship with Nigel in an interview on The Ringer’s Cheap Heat podcast, noting that he and Andre Chase were the only two talents to recognize the McGuinness as a legendary name full of knowledge.

“Coming to NXT, I put as much effort in what I do and say as I do the wrestling part. That’s what people don’t understand. They think it comes natural, which it does, I’m not going to say that I don’t have some advantages, but I put a lot of work into this. I watch other people go about this. I watch a lot of videos of people who are confident. One of the best pieces of advice I got was from Nigel McGuinness when he did commentary on 205. I was doing 205, and no one cared who I was. I was a legit no one. Nigel pulled me aside and talked to me about Muhammad Ali. He said, ‘When Ali talks and fights, he knows he’s the best in the world, and it doesn’t matter who it is against. You don’t.’ That piece of advice stuck with me. ‘He’s right.’ There is part of me thinking I need to learn more, I need to improve more, I need to be coached more, all these things, but it was coming out in my performance. The moment Nigel said that, and I had full confidence in myself to perform, everything went to a different level,”

Waller continued, “NXT, no one knew who Nigel was. There were two people: myself and Andre Chase. Nigel would sit backstage at NXT shows, and no one would go talk to him. Me and Andre Chase would go sit with him and pester him because we know Nigel. We know how good Nigel is. They thought he was a commentator. These dumb shotputters from Arizona State or whatever had no idea. Me and Andre, we basically got a seminar whenever we wanted. It was great having him around. He always had real advice. He wouldn’t mess around, he’s not faking me out, ‘Good job, buddy.’ He’s going to tell me how it is, that’s what I always enjoy.”

Grayson Waller

McGuinness was released by the company in October 2022 and would go on to sign with AEW, where he is a part of the AEW Collision commentary team.

Meanwhile, Waller is currently in the midst of a tag team run alongside fellow brash young heel Austin Theory on SmackDown.

H/T to Fightful for transcription

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