Grayson Waller Says Some Wrestlers Think He's Disrespectful But Top WWE Star 'Gets It'

Over the past three years, Cody Rhodes' entrance has become one of the most anticipated segments of any WWE show, with fans not only looking forward to his theme song, but also the theatrics, pyro and getting to yell "Woah" at the top of their lungs. Rhodes' entrance has become so popular, especially with the younger generation of fans, that it's rarely interrupted throughout any show. However, during an episode of "WWE SmackDown" in August 2024, Grayson Waller and Austin Theory boldly cut off "The American Nightmare" and prevented the audience from singing along on his way to the ring.

Not every wrestler is given the opportunity to interrupt one of the biggest stars in the company, but according to Waller on "Insight," Rhodes understood that he and Theory were just trying to provoke the audience, but admitted some talent would be legitimately upset with their entrance being cut short.

"There's certain guys you can't do that with because sometimes people buy into the hype or they don't know what this is, but obviously Cody being second generation and having his brother being a wrestler, like he gets what this is. We can have some fun. We don't have to plan that. We can go out, I can be super disrespectful and he's not going to pull me backstage and go 'What are you doing?' Like he's going to understand, okay, you were just trying to get a rise out of me. And sometimes that will actually bring out energy in him ... there's certain guys that you can't do that with because they don't understand what this is and they have too much pride."

Waller reflected on being inspired by Bryan Danielson when he attended an ROH show in Australia 18 years ago, where "The American Dragon" cut off his own theme song, "The Final Countdown," before the fans could sing along.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.