Grayson Waller Recalls John Cena Speech That 'Changed His Perspective' On WWE Career

WWE's Grayson Waller has revealed the advice that John Cena gave him and the rest of the locker room, which has reshaped how he approaches pro wrestling.

Waller is someone who rarely, if ever, praises others in the pro wrestling business. However, in a recent conversation on "Insight," Waller — who previously expressed his desire to put Cena "out to pasture" — spoke about the valuable advice Cena gave him that has shifted his mindset toward pro wrestling.

"He [Cena] did like — maybe two years ago, when I was kind of freshly on SmackDown — a little locker room thing. We had a little meeting. We had to talk about some stuff. He got up and he said something that really stuck with me, where he talked about, like, you know, 'You don't have to do the Netflix break promo. You don't have to wrestle before the show. You know, you don't have to do the dark match. It's like, you get to. Like, you get to, for 3 minutes, say whatever you want on Netflix. You get to wrestle before the show when they're the hottest, when they're the most excited, and you get to wrestle another great.' And when he said that, it changed my perspective a little bit 'cause I'm like, 'Who are we to complain about?'" said Waller. "Who am I to go, 'Ah man, I got to wrestle.' Like, I hated that I even possibly thought those things. So once he said that, that changed everything for me." 

The Australian wrestler said he now looks forward to every opportunity he gets to make an impression and have fans talk about him. Waller spoke glowingly about Cena's humility and his desire to give back to wrestling through his conversations and advice to young stars. He intends to follow in Cena's footsteps by taking the time to talk to aspiring wrestlers and share insights to help them grow.