Though Grayson Waller has a match on the books against Bron Breakker for the NXT New Year's Evil for the NXT World Championship, he isn't settling for that being his biggest bout for the brand. No, because Waller is a – self-proclaimed – pillar of NXT, he needs to have marquee matches to draw additional eyes to the brand, and the “21st Century Success Story” has the perfect idea for an opponent that he'd like to bring to Orlando to wrestle, as he detailed to Steven Falls on Ten Count.

“The number one guy for me right now is Cody Rhodes. I know he's hurt right now, but he works out like a demon, and I'm sure he's ready to go before people know,” Waller said via Wrestling News. “I want to see him come back down here. His dad built this place, right? This is his dad's house. Come visit. This is my house now. I moved in. Knock on the door. I'll open the door for you, wipe your feet, come into my house, and let's see if you still got it after that injury.”

Alright, so the idea of Waller wrestling Rhodes isn't that big of a breaking news, as he has mentioned a desire to wrestle Dusty's son once before, but the bout still makes a ton of sense, as its two performers are great on the mic but have very different takes on professional wrestling history. The real question should be would Rhodes actually be willing to come to NXT to wrestle Waller? Well, considering Waller has a massive fan in “The Heartbreak Kid,” Shawn Michaels, anything is possible.

“Me and Shawn have a great relationship,” Waller said. “I think Shawn has full trust in me. Shawn gave me opportunities before anyone else would have. You know, I got things like WarGames and the match with AJ. No one thought I deserved this position. Everyone online was like, ‘Who is this? Who is this', and Shawn knew how good I was. Shawn has seen me. Shawn knew that I had the potential and we had a conversation one day. I remember I wrestled Roderick Strong for the Cruiserweight title, my first proper match on NXT. I went out and I killed it, because that's what I do. Like, of course I did. I came backstage and I said to him, and I don't even remember saying it, and I said to him,' If you give me the ball, I'll run with it.' About six months later, he reminded me of that conversation and he said to me, ‘I gave you the ball, and you're doing what you said you would do.’ So we have a great relationship. It is a business relationship. I know I can go to him with anything. As you said, he is the GOAT. I'll admit that, but I'm not a fan anymore, either. You know, I'm a work colleague. I'm someone that, you know, he's my boss. But Shawn knows how good I am and I know how good Shawn is. So if you're gonna go to anyone for advice, that's the man right there.”

Could Waller's relationship with HBK be the key to beating Brekker and bringing Rhodes to NXT for a match? Only time will tell, but fortunately, the first shoe will drop at New Year's Evil and potentially Vengence Day if anything goofy happens.

Grayson Waller is confident he could be NXT's first Royal Rumble winner.

Elsewhere in his interview with Fall, Waller was asked about whether or not he'd be willing to take part in the 2023 Royal Rumble, and unsurprisingly, the (maybe) soon-to-be NXT World Champion wasn't one for modesty.

“You're trying to get me in trouble with Roman right now. I can feel it. I know what you're doing, but that's okay. Because if I get the opportunity in the Royal Rumble, I have confidence. I know I could go on and win that thing,” Waller said via Fightful. “Roman is the toughest challenge in the industry right now. No one can beat him, but I do have experience beating a Bloodline member. Not many people can say that. I beat Solo Sikoa, and I beat him pretty easily.”

So, because he has a win over Sikoa on the books, would Waller be willing to go head-to-head with Reigns to become the first-ever Undisputed Triple Crown WWE Universal NXT Champion? He would, but only with the right strategy and some backup to boot.

“So, if I get in there with Roman, and I have time, and I can come up with a strategy, and I can get some backup; because that guy's got like 16 cousins, 7 uncles, like the ring is just covered in Bloodline members, but who knows? Waller said. “Imagine me doing a shoey with three championships in my hand? That's pretty impressive.”

Again, Waller really needs to win the NXT belt before he starts hypothesizing about dethroning Reigns, but hey, you can't fault a guy for being ambitious.