GRAYSON WALLER

Matthew Farrelly is a 32-year-old professional wrestler from Australia. Farrelly is currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and he performs on the company’s SmackDown brand. His ring name is Grayson Waller.

Before signing with WWE, Farrelly wrestled on the independent circuit under the ring name, Matt Wahlberg. He made his debut for Newcastle Pro Wrestling event n April 2017 losing to SnapChad. He then formed a tag team with Carter Dreams, known as The BABES (which stood for Blonde and Blue Eyed Squad). Wahlberg then returned to singles competition. He also received a PWA Heavyweight Championship match against Cavemen Ugg but lost at the PWA Black Label: Wahlberg vs Ugg event in March 2019.

At the PWA Black Label: Break Their Back & Make Them Rumble event, Wahlberg also lost to TJ Perkins. But at the PWA Black Label: Colosseum event, Wahlberg won the 2019 Colosseum tournament by defeating Chris Basso in the first round. He then beat Orange Cassidy in the semi-finals, and Travis Banks in the final. After the PWA Black Label: It Started Out With A Kiss event went off the air, Wahlberg addressed the live crowd, informing them that he was leaving PWA.

Farrelly’s WWE Debut & Contract

In March 2021, WWE reported that Matthew Farrelly had signed with the company. He made his WWE debut under the ring name, Grayson Waller, on the July 11th episode of 205 Love, defeating Sunil Singh. Waller then debuted on the September 28th episode of NXT where he lost to NXT Cruiserweight Champion, Roderick Strong. He then participated in a triple threat match on November 9th losing to both Solo Sikoa and L.A. Knight.

A few weeks later, Waller turned heel after berating NXT fans. At NXT WarGames, he teamed with Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, and Tony D’Angelo. They called themselves Team 2.0 and defeated Team Black and Gold (Johnny Gargano, L.A. Knight, Pete Dunne and Tommaso Ciampa) in a WarGames match. On the following episode after NXT WarGames, Grayson Waller brutally attacked Johnny Gargano during his farewell promo. Waller then attacked Dexter Lumis a month later on December 21st and announced that he will dismantle the old NXT one by one. He then confronted A.J. Styles whom he had criticized on social media networks a few days prior.

At NXT: New Years Evil, A.J. Styles confronted Grayson Waller again and the result was a brawl between the pair. On the following week’s episode of NXT, Waller lost in a match to A.J. Styles. After the match, he was attacked by the returning L. A. Knight. Alongside his new “insurance policy” Sanga, Waller interfered in L.A. Knight’s match against Joe Gacy. He then wrestled Knight at NXT Roadblock and defeated him in a last man standing match but only did so because of Sanga’s help.

Grayson Waller’s Championship Challenges

At NXT Stand & Deliver, Waller failed the win the NXT North American Championship in a ladder match. Then, Waller and Sanga entered the tag team gauntlet match for the vacant NXT Tag Team Championships but were eliminated by the Creed Brothers. Waller then turned on Sanga and defeated him a week later on the April 19th episode of NXT.

Grayson Waller then briefly feuded with the debuting Nathan Frazer which he lost at NXT Spring Breakin’. Waller then pursued the NXT North American Championship by tricking Carmelo Hayes into signing the contract. At NXT: The Great American Bash, Waller lost to Hayes due to interference from Trick Williams and Wes Lee. Despite this, Waller blamed his loss on Wes Lee and defeated him on the July 27th episode of NXT due to interference from Williams.

Waller then started a rivalry with Apollo Crews. Waller defeated Crews on the August 30th episode of NXT after “injuring” his eye, but lost to him at Halloween Havoc in a casket match. At NXT Deadline, Waller won the inaugural Iron Survivor Challenge to become the number one contender for Bron Breakker’s NXT Championship. The match was later scheduled for NXT: New Year’s Evil on January 10th 2023, where the match ended when the middle rope snapped, causing Waller to fall out of the ring and be counted out, allowing Breakker to retain the title. A steel cage match between the two for the title was subsequently scheduled for Vengeance Day on 4 February, where Waller again failed to win the title.

STATS

Birth name: Matthew Farrelly
Born: March 21, 1990, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Height: 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight: 224 lb (102 kg)
Ring name(s): Grayson Waller, Matty Wahlberg
Current Roster: WWE SmackDown
Finishing move(s): Sit-Out Fireman’s Launching Slam

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