“I kind of understand why people would have perceived me as a joke” – WWE star details Roman Reigns’ advice

A current WWE star recently detailed a conversation with Roman Reigns that led to a major turnaround in his career. The interaction between the two occurred after the star’s match at Royal Rumble 2026.

Grayson Waller returned to NXT a few months ago after a below-par stint on the main roster. The 36-year-old has achieved a lot of success on WWE’s third brand in a short time and is the current NXT Champion.

Waller also underwent an attire change recently, shifting from boxing shorts to tights. In a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, the NXT star detailed how the change has helped change the perception of him and what Roman Reigns said after watching him compete in pants:

“I look back and I kind of understand why people would have perceived me as a joke. For me, the boxing shorts were always I was a huge boxing fan. A lot of people think it was basketball shorts, but I thought it was a different look. It made me look unique, but I think it also didn’t make me look like a serious contender for the championship. So that was something where I was like, I need to change things up. I can’t just keep giving them the same thing.”

“So first thing was I put the tights on, and actually the Rumble was the first time I kind of wore them in a match, and Roman Reigns came up and pulled me aside and said, ‘Hey, that’s the look. You look like a champion now.’ Hey, if Roman says that, all right, lad, whatever you need, I’m gonna keep the pants. But even coming back to NXT, I was like, I can’t walk out with the leopard shirts and all that. That vibe didn’t work. That’s an old me. So now, I am more serious. This is me. I feel comfortable now.”

Grayson Waller will soon face Roman Reigns’ former WWE rival

Grayson Waller has done a tremendous job since returning to NXT. The 36-year-old did not take long to win the NXT Championship and has successfully defended it on multiple occasions. However, he will face the biggest challenge of his reign this week, when he defends the NXT Championship against CM Punk.

CM Punk lost the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania to Roman Reigns and has been chasing another world title in WWE since then. While he won the Undisputed WWE Championship a few months ago, his reign lasted only 67 days, and he dropped the gold to Sami Zayn.

Edited by Vivek Sharma