Before signing with WWE, he previously performed on theindependent circuit under the ring nameMatty Wahlberg. Outside of professional wrestling, Farrelly was a contestant onseason six ofAustralian Survivor.
On 15 April 2017, at a Newcastle Pro Wrestling event, Farrelly made his debut under thering name Matty Wahlberg (a reference toHollywood actorMark Wahlberg), losing to SnapChad.[4] Wahlberg would form atag team with Carter Dreams, known as The BABES (Blonde And Blue Eyed Squad), managed by Harley Wonderland. Wahlberg then returned to singles competition and he would receive a PWA Heavyweight Championship match against Caveman Ugg, but lost to Ugg at the PWA Black Label: Wahlberg Vs. Ugg event in March 2019.[5] At the PWA Black Label: Break Their Back & Make Them Rumble event, Wahlberg lost toTJ Perkins. At the PWA Black Label: Colosseum event, Wahlberg won the 2019 Colosseum tournament by defeating Chris Basso in the first round,Orange Cassidy in the semi-finals, andTravis Banks in the final.[6] 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.[7][8] On 12 October 2024, Farrelly returned to PWA under his WWE ring name Grayson Waller, defeating Jimmy Townsend during Night One of the Colosseum Tournament.
On the 23 November episode ofNXT, Waller berated the fans, thus turningheel.[12] AtNXT WarGames, he teamed up withBron Breakker,Carmelo Hayes, andTony D'Angelo as Team 2.0, where they defeated Team Black & Gold (Johnny Gargano, LA Knight,Pete Dunne, andTommaso Ciampa) in aWarGames match.[13] On the following episode ofNXT, Waller brutally attacked Johnny Gargano during his farewell promo where he thanked his fans and friends, thus cementing his heel turn.[14] On the 21 December episode ofNXT, he attackedDexter Lumis after the latter's match and announces that he will dismantle the old NXT one by one, and he then confrontedAJ Styles, whom he had criticized on social networks a few days before.[15] AtNXT: New Years Evil on 4 January 2022, Styles once again confronted Waller, resulting into a brawl between the pair.[16] The following week, Waller lost to Styles. After the match, he was attacked by the returningLA Knight.[17] On the 1 February episode ofNXT, Waller, alongside his new "insurance policy"Sanga, interfered in Knight's match againstJoe Gacy, causing Knight to lose the match.[18] AtNXT: Roadblock on 8 March, Waller defeated Knight in aLast Man Standing match when he used Sanga to make it to his feet and beat the ten count.[19]
AtNXT Stand & Deliver, Waller failed to win the NXT North American Championship in a ladder match.[20] Waller and Sanga would enter the tag team gauntlet match for the vacant NXT Tag Team Championship, where they were eliminated by the Creed Brothers.[21] Waller then turned on Sanga and defeated him a week later on the 19 April episode ofNXT.[22] Waller then briefly feuded with the debutingNathan Frazer,[23] who he lost to atSpring Breakin'.[24] Waller would then pursue the NXT North American Championship by tricking Carmelo Hayes into signing the contract. AtNXT: The Great American Bash on 5 July, Waller lost to Hayes due to interference from Trick Williams andWes Lee.[25] Despite this, Waller blamed his loss on Wes Lee and defeated him on the 26 July episode ofNXT due to interference from Williams.[26] Waller then started a rivalry withApollo Crews, defeating him on the 30 August episode ofNXT after "injuring" his eye,[27] but lost to him atNXT Halloween Havoc in acasket match.[28]
AtNXT Deadline, Waller won the inauguralIron Survivor Challenge to become the number one contender forBron Breakker'sNXT Championship.[29] The match was later scheduled forNXT: New Year's Evil on 10 January 2023,[30] 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. Asteel cage match between the two for the title was subsequently scheduled forNXT Vengeance Day on 4 February,[31] where Waller again failed to win the title.[32] AtNXT Roadblock, Waller hosted The Grayson Waller Effect with Shawn Michaels as the special guest. Waller challenged Michaels to come out of retirement for a match at NXT Stand & Deliver, Michaels said that someone wanted a match with Waller more than him, which was revealed to be the returningJohnny Gargano. AtNXT Stand and Deliver on 1 April, Waller lost to Gargano via submission in anunsanctioned match.[33] On the 11 April episode ofNXT, Waller won afatal four-way match to earn an NXT Championship match againstCarmelo Hayes atSpring Breakin', where Waller failed to win the championship from Hayes in what would be his final match in NXT.[34][35] It was later revealed that Waller broke his leg towards the end of the match.[36]
Waller presenting "The Grayson Waller Effect" in 2023.
As part of the2023 WWE Draft, Waller was drafted to theSmackDownbrand.[37][38] He made hisSmackDown debut on 19 May 2023, interviewingAJ Styles onThe Grayson Waller Effect. AtMoney in the Bank, Waller interrupted the returningJohn Cena, where he confronted and attacked Cena before getting hit with anAttitude Adjustment.[39] On the 7 July episode ofSmackDown, Waller interviewedEdge onThe Grayson Waller Effect. Waller then made his main roster in-ring debut later that night against Edge, who would defeat him. Despite the loss, Edge would praise Waller.[40] On the 15 September episode ofSmackDown, Waller interviewed Cena onThe Grayson Waller Effect forThe Bloodline to come out. On the 10 November episode ofSmackDown, Waller and his new tag team partnerAustin Theory (who are collectively known asA-Town Down Under) provoked the newest member of the SmackDown rosterKevin Owens. Owens attacked both Waller and Theory and was suspended by the WWE.[41]
On the 15 December episode ofSmackDown, both Waller and Theory lost in the first rounds of theUnited States Championship#1 Contender Tournament to former rival Carmelo Hayes and Owens respectively.[42] Waller returned to NXT atNXT: New Year's Evil on 2 January 2024 and was put into a match againstTrick Williams for Williams' Iron Survivor Challenge title match opportunity by Hayes. Waller lost the match after interference from Owens.[43] At theRoyal Rumble on January 27, Waller entered his firstRoyal Rumble match at #3, lasting four minutes before being eliminated by Hayes.[44] AtElimination Chamber: Perth held in his home country ofAustralia, Waller co-hosted The Grayson Waller Effect with Theory featuringCody Rhodes andSeth Rollins as his guests. Seth and Cody then attacked Theory and Waller did not get involved, teasing the dissolution of their tag team. On the 26 February episode ofRaw, Waller, in his debut match onRaw, was defeated by Rhodes in the main event.
Waller and Theory went on to win a tag team tournament, defeatingThe O.C. (Karl AndersonandLuke Gallows) on the 22 March episode ofSmackDown andThe Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) in the finals one week later to qualify for thesix-pack ladder match for theUndisputed WWE Tag Team Championship atWrestleMania XL. At Night 1 of WrestleMania XL, Waller retrieved theSmackDown Tag Team Championship for A-Town Down Under to become the new champions, thus making it Waller's first championship win in WWE.[45] On the 19 April episode ofSmackDown, the SmackDown Tag Team Championship was renamed as the WWE Tag Team Championship and the team was presented with new title belts by WWE'schief content officerPaul "Triple H" Levesque, and thegeneral manager of SmackDownNick Aldis.[46] On the May 3 episode ofSmackDown, Theory and Waller defeatedThe Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) in their first title defense.[47] On the July 5 episode ofSmackDown, Grayson Waller and Austin Theory as A-Town Down Under lost the titles to#DIY (Johnny Gargano andTommaso Ciampa), ending their reign at 90 days.[48] Grayson Waller and Austin Theory also had previously feuded with #DIY weeks before the title loss.[49][50][51] They failed to win the titles in a rematch on the following episode ofSmackDown, ending their feud.[52]
After a promo on social media the previous week, Waller and Theory returned toNXT on 24 September, challengingNathan Frazer andAxiom for theNXT Tag Team Championship, which they accepted. Later that night, they defeatedCedric Alexander andJe'Von Evans following a backstage confrontation.[53] On the 8 October episode of NXT, they failed to win the titles from Fraxiom.[54]
On the 13 December episode ofSmackDown, Waller and Theory met withBraun Strowman backstage and asked him to be a guest onThe Grayson Waller Effect next week, which Strowman accepted.[55] On the 20 December episode ofSmackDown, Waller hostedThe Grayson Waller Effect alongside Austin Theory with Braun Strowman as the special guest, which was later interrupted byCarmelo Hayes.[56]
On the 24 January 2025 episode ofSmackDown, it was announced by SmackDown general managerNick Aldis that A-Town Down Under would be moving to the Raw brand as part of thetransfer window.[57] On the 28 January episode ofNXT, A-Town Down Under hosted a special edition ofThe Grayson Waller Effect with the newNXT ChampionOba Femi as guest to see if Femi was "worth the hype." Femi then offered to defend the NXT Championship in a triple threat match against A-Town Down Under atNXT Vengeance Day on 15 February, where Femi retained the title after Waller cost Theory the win.[58]
Following Austin Theory's legitimate injury report, which marked the quiet disbandment of A-Town Down Under, on the July 21 episode of Raw, Waller began aligning himself withThe New Day.[59]
In 2019, Farrelly appeared onAustralian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders 2. He competed on the Contenders team, and garnered attention for his outspoken personality, essentially playing a version of his Matty Wahlberg wrestling character on reality television. He would be eliminated from the competition after several weeks on the island.[60]
Farrelly also made a cameo appearance onYoung Rock in 2021, playing the role ofRic Flair.[61]
Farrelly, as Grayson Waller, made his first video game appearance inWWE 2K23,[62] also returning forWWE 2K24[63] and would appear again inWWE 2K25.
Farrelly is a former Golden Gloves boxer in Australia, and also worked as a history teacher atDe La Salle College Revesby inRevesby Heights, New South Wales while competing on the Australian independent circuit on the weekends. He left his teaching job in 2021 after signing with WWE and became a full-time professional wrestler.[64]Farrelly is a supporter of theNRL'sSydney Roosters, theNFL’sPhiladelphia Eagles, and theNBA'sSacramento Kings.[65]
^Waller and Theory won the WWE Tag Team Championship as the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship. The title was renamed on April 19, 2024 during their reign.
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