CM Punk Responds To Grayson Waller's WWE NXT Return Promo

CM Punk was clearly a fan of Waller’s speech

Since signing with WWE in 2021, Grayson Waller has had mixed fortunes, going from winning the SmackDown Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 40 to hardly featuring on TV of late. On last night’s episode of NXT, Waller made a shock return to our screens, lamenting his creative and place within the company, describing his career as “dying”. The Australian superstar then turned his attention to the NXT men’s division, labelling them as “soft”, making numerous pointed comments, and echoing the online sentiments of how much better the women’s roster is. These verbal barbs and use of internet opinions draws similarities to CM Punk’s infamous 2011 “pipe bomb” promo, and the current WWE Champion has now acknowledged Waller’s NXT segment.

Speaking on his Instagram story, CM Punk reposted a clip from NXT’s Instagram page with the caption.

“Frustration distilled and funnelled into a bullet aimed at the competition”
-CM Punk

Grayson Waller was a major part of NXT 2.0, having a notable feud with Johnny Gargano. Waller would break his leg at the end of his NXT run, but in 2023 he started on the main roster, going on to form a team with Austin Theory. As mentioned, A-Town Down Under would help Waller become a WWE Tag Team Champion at WrestleMania XL before the they eventually split in 2025. The former Survivor contestant aligned himself with The New Day, though this ended with the release of Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods.

Waller’s promos included specific shots at the current NXT Champion, Tony D’Angelo, and the latest signing, Cruz Montana (FKA Mike Santana), from TNA, drawing criticism from TNA stars on social media. Montana recently explained his new name on social media, which you can read more about here.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Grayson Waller, CM Punk, or WWE as a whole as soon as we hear more.

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