WWE 2K25 Grayson Waller and Austin Theory want to punch Shawn Michaels in the face

WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas is just days away with some of WWE’s brightest and most charismatic talents showcasing their abilities on the grandest stage of them all.

Some of the headline matches over the two-day extravaganza include Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena for the WWE Undisputed Championship and Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins in a heated Triple Threat match.

Two names currently not announced for WrestleMania 41 at the time of writing are former WWE Tag Team Champions, Grayson Waller and Austin Theory, collectively known as A-Town Down Under. I had the opportunity to speak to the duo about dream matches and what the future may hold.

In the WWE 2K series, ‘Showcase’ is a campaign that tells some of the historic moments in WWE whether it’s the career of John Cena, 40 Years of WrestleMania or the Anoaʻi family, the most influential family in pro wrestling producing names such as The Rock, Roman Reigns and The Usos.

Check out the WWE 2K25 trailer below!

In the spirit of ‘Showcase’, I asked Grayson Waller and Austin Theory to name their dream matches if a campaign was dedicated to A-Town Down Under. “My dream match would be against Roman Reigns for the WWE Undisputed Championship,” Austin says, kicking off our discussion.

“I’d have to pick two of my favourite matches in my career so far, that being AJ Styles who I faced during my time in NXT, that was an epic moment for me,” Grayson says. “Then it would be my match against Edge on Smackdown at Madison Square Garden.”

Between them, the duo decided on two tag team matches, one being a favourite match of their career and the other being dream opponents. “The match we had against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens on Smackdown was great,” Grayson recalls with Austin adding “Yeah, that was a really good one.”

One of the greatest tag teams of all time is The Hardy’s, WWE legends who made their debut in 1999, which was so long ago, that the company was then known as WWF.

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Currently wrestling in TNA, The Hardy’s recently appeared in episodes of NXT following WWE’s official partnership with the pro wrestling promotion. “My dream opponents are The Hardy’s,” says Grayson with a big smile and now it’s possible,” with the two companies collaborating.

“Ok, here’s mine,” says a fidgety and excited Austin. “What about Shawn Michaels and Triple H as D-Generation X?” Grayson replies “Oh, I love that one. I would love to punch Shawn Michaels in the face!”

‘MyFACTION’ is one of the most popular modes in WWE 2K25, where players take on daily and weekly challenges pitting their assembled teams against CPU opponents as well as other players across the world in the hope of unlocking exclusive rewards.

With Grayson Waller and Austin Theory already included in their five-person faction, the duo collaborated to assemble their dream squad. “An easy pick for me is ‘Dirty’ Dominic Mysterio,” says Grayson with Austin nodding in approval.

“I know who else would be sick, ‘The Viper’ Randy Orton,” adds Austin. “Yeah, we can be the new Evolution but Randy can be our Triple H, the leader of the group,” Grayson suggests. “But we need our experienced Ric Flair, who could that be?”

“How about this?” Austin says as he enthusiastically leans forward. “Me, you, Randy Orton, and Paul Hayman as our mentor?” with Grayson in total agreement for the new Evolution faction.

2K

The WWE 2K series has one of the best character creation suites in the video game industry and WWE 2K25 is no exception. To build the perfect wrestler, I asked Grayson and Austin to name the wrestler with the best attributes based on speed and agility, brawling, power, cardio, charisma and mic skills, technical ability, and ring entrance.

“Nathan Fraser of NXT is really fast,” Grayson tells Austin. “His girlfriend told me that. He’s a really good wrestler too. So yeah, we should go with Nathan Fraser for speed and agility.”

“For a brawler, we’d have to go with the Brooklyn Brawler,” Grayson continues with Austin asking “Really?” with a bemused face because the Brooklyn Brawler is known for losing practically every match he’s ever competed in. “Yeah, Brooklyn Brawler, he’s a brawler. It would be silly to choose anyone else,” concludes Grayson.

“Who should we go with for cardio? How about Rey Mysterio,” suggests Austin. “He’s great.” Grayson agrees with Austin because “Rey has little legs, so he doesn't have to move as far. It makes life a little easier for him.”

For the category of charisma, Grayson and Austin couldn't decide on a definitive answer, so they chose two. The Miz and Jacob Fatu. Hey, it’s their interview, so they make the rules.

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There have been many superb technical wrestlers over the years from Daniel Bryan, Bret “Hitman” Hart and Kurt Angle but the current WWE is not short of technical talents. With so much to choose from, Grayson chose Pete Dunn and Austin chose Chad Gable.

Finally, the ring entrance. A category so important that it sets the tone for any wrestler. For example, the Undertaker’s entrance has such an unnerving aura, that some say he wins the battle before he even steps foot in the ring.

“It makes me sick to say, but right now I got to say Jey Uso,” suggests Grayson. “I have to go with Penta, I love all that fire at the entrance when he makes his way to the ring,” explains Austin. “I know, we can have Penta’s entrance with the word ‘Yeet’ on fire,” Grayson adds.

Before appearing on Raw and Smackdown, Grayson Waller and Austin Theory had successful spells in NXT over two-year periods at different times. NXT is where budding young wrestlers learn their trade to prepare for the main rosters.

“For me, it was an interesting experience because I was on NXT and then I went to Raw but this was during the COVID-19 pandemic and both shows were without fans,” Austin recalls. “Then I went back to NXT and then back to Raw, again.”

“It was a big change because you go from working in the performance centre and working NXT television,” Austin continues. “Now, I’m not just based in Florida, where the performance centre and NXT arena are. I’m travelling around the world and doing more events such as meet and greets. It has more of a superstar feel on the main roster.”

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“I always compare it from going to high school to college. At NXT you have coaches and other people around you 24/7, and you’re in the performance centre every day. You’re taken care of” Grayson explains. “When you go to the main roster, you’re pretty much on your own. Everything is on you, and it’s up to you whether you sink or swim.”

Despite earning success as tag team champions as A-Town Down Under, Grayson Waller is yet to earn singles gold in WWE and no doubt, that’s something that the Aussie superstar wants to change as soon as possible.

“I’ve always wanted to win the United States championship, and not because I want to represent that championship or the United States but because I want to change it to the Australian championship,” he explains.

“We’ve also had the United Kingdom championship but none of those represent me. I feel like travelling around the USA with the Australian championship over my shoulder. That would be great and it would make me smile.”

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As for Austin Theory, a former United States champion himself as well as the youngest Money in the Bank winner, it’s surely time for him to recapture singles gold once more.

“I’d love to win the World Tag Team Championships over on Raw with Grayson but man, the WWE Undisputed Championship has always been where it’s at. I’ve been dreaming of that moment since I was a kid. Cody Rhodes has the championship right now, but after WrestleMania 41, it could be John Cena,” Austin says.

Austin Theory is a big John Cena fan and on night one of WrestleMania 39, he fulfilled a dream by defeating the WWE legend and retained his then-United States championship. However, Austin won the match controversially by whacking Cena in the balls before hitting his finishing move ‘A-Town Down’ to get the win.

“Recently, I was reflecting on how I won that WrestleMania match when I hit Cena in the balls and I thought to myself, ‘Was that a cheap way to go?” recalls Austin. “But now, given how Cena has been acting, I was happy with what I did. He deserved it.”

WWE

Austin was referring to the shocking moments when John Cena not only betrayed Cody Rhodes at Elimination Chamber 2025 but also turned his back on the fans.

In WWE, tag teams never last forever, even the twin brother duo of Jimmy and Jey Uso have competed against each other. In the spirit of friendly competition, could we see Grayson Waller and Austin Theory battle it out in the squared circle?

“That would be sick, his skill set and my skill set, that would be great. What do you think?” Austin asks Grayson. “I would never think about that. I’m only focused on our tag team. I would never have a singles match with you. But you went there pretty quick,” an unimpressed Grayson tells Austin.

“Yeah, because of friendly competition,” Austin replies. “Well, for me, there’s no such thing as friendly competition,” says Grayson quickly changing his tone with Austin looking on with concern.

“I’m a very competitive person. I think if you have a match against a friend, you're gonna hit harder. Just look at Shawn Michaels and Triple H. They’re great friends but they hit harder against each other than anyone else. So I think if we did fight, it would be a very dangerous situation,” Grayson teases.

“Ok, so answer this. If you needed to, would you cheat to beat me?” Austin asks Grayson. “Is it cheating if you don’t get caught?” Grayson replies. “Are you serious? I’m your best friend” says Austin. “We’ve got to talk about that.”

WrestleMania 41 takes place from Saturday, 19 April to Sunday, 20 April 2025.