Backstage News On Grayson Waller's WWE NXT Title Win

Grayson Waller became NXT Champion for the first time in the main event of NXT Heatwave on Sunday, August 30 as he won a four-way against then-champion Tony D'Angelo, Mike Santana, and Zilla Fatu. Waller's win came after he moved back to NXT on the July 28 edition of the WWE Performance Center show, cutting a worked shoot promo, and he has been featured as a top star on Tuesday nights ever since.

WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select has reported that once Shawn Michaels received clearance for Grayson Waller to head back to NXT, the decision was made almost immediately to book him to win the NXT Championship. A number of people within WWE see a lot of upside in Waller as a top heel.

Waller's title win does not mean WWE have cooled on Tony D'Angelo, however. WrestleVotes noted D'Angelo losing the NXT Championship is not an indictment of him, but that doesn't mean D'Angelo is planned for a main roster call-up either, with it being further reported that Tony D has not been discussed as a possible addition to Monday Night Raw or Friday Night SmackDown.

Grayson Waller was originally a part of NXT from 2021 to 2023, when he was called up to the WWE main roster. Waller primarily spent his time on the main roster as part of A-Town Down Under with Austin Theory, which included one reign as WWE Tag Team Champions. After their team split in the summer of 2025, Waller was aligned with The New Day until Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston were granted their releases in May of 2026.