Perth just held its biggest pro wrestling event ever, as WWE Superstars descended on the Australian city for an Elimination Chamber event.
Fans were out in force, donning their favourite wrestling logos and merchandise with many queuing for hours, in the same vein as Taylor Swift fans.
READ MORE: Review | Mario vs. Donkey Kong ‘A completionist’s dream’ (Switch)
Among the stars at the WWE’s first Australian event in six years, is homegrown hero Grayson Waller – a former school teacher turned pro-wrestler.
Sitting down with the Aussie Icon
I caught up with Grayson ahead of the Perth Elimination Chamber to talk The Grayson Waller Effect, his career and the upcoming WWE 2K24 video game – and he didn’t hold back.
The ‘Aussie Icon’, as Waller’s known, grew up in Sydney and took on the local wrestling scene while teaching history.
“This event is huge but we want this to keep happening. We want to keep coming back,” Waller said.
READ MORE: Gaming hotel suite opens in Melbourne
Since being back in his home country from his adopted home in the US, he says he’s caught up with plenty of mates and even attended a local wrestling match.
“It’s fun just to kind of show them all the sacrifice and everything that I’ve done is worth it,” he said.
“I missed my best mate’s wedding last week – I was supposed to be the best man – because Smackdown was on, so things like that really sucked,” he said.
Waller hosted his own headline act at the Elimination Chamber event, The Grayson Waller Effect, which saw Waller interview superstar Cody Rhodes and World Heavyweight Champion Seth ‘Freakin Rollins.
It went off with a bang! Rhodes challenged The Rock, and Rollins, who is almost cleared of injury, offered his support.
“I just try and cause chaos, that’s part of the fun — like you’re a journalist yourself, not as good as me, but I like to ask the questions that kind of push buttons and I like to see how people react to that,” Waller said ahead of the event.
READ MORE: Review | Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (PlayStation 5)
This is the first time WWE has been back in Australia since 2018.
WWE 2K24 is almost here
I recently caught up with one of the WWE 2K24 cover stars, and fellow Aussie, Rhea Ripley, who retained her title at last night’s Elimination Chamber event.
Watch my interview with Rhea Ripley below.
Grayson also features in the upcoming WWE 2K24 video game but says he’s unhappy with his character’s rating.
“I think our ratings are a joke,” he said.
Waller says that while the game’s graphics and gameplay shine, he’s unhappy with how the wrestlers are scored.
“If you (WWE 2K) want to give us a 70, that’s okay because we’re the best looking in the game, the most handsome in the game,” he said.
“So we’re not stressed about some fake rating, because in real life we’re 90s.”
Grayson Waller was given a rating of 74, lower than his rating in WWE 2K23.
After interviewing Waller, I had the chance to get hands-on with the new game. As I picked up the PlayStation controller, Optus Stadium was peering over the top of TV; the perfect opportunity to absorb it all.
The Ambulance match was a highlight, and while I wasn’t skilled enough to make it that far – other media in attendance showed me how it was done. And by other media, I mean a 9-year-old boy — he smashed it.
WWE 2K24 is coming to Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 and PC on March 8.
Julian Price went hands-on with the game in Perth with thanks to 2K Games.
