Furious WWE wrestler threatens to punch TV crew member after tense on-air joke

WWE star Grayson Waller threatened to punch a TV crew member after a tense joke during a live broadcast.

Waller, who was born in Sydney, Australia, is currently back in his home country promoting the WWE's upcoming Elimination Chamber premium live event, which takes place in Perth next month.

Alongside fellow WWE star LA Knight, Waller took part in an interview for national TV station 7News with hosts Matt Doran and Natalie Barr - and it didn't quite go as planned.

Check out the exchange below.

Barr asked Knight whether he could end the segment by performing one of his finishing moves on a member of the TV crew.

The 41-year-old was understandably irritated by the request, and responded: "What you just showed on the screen there? If I do that, it's not going to be a good day for anybody. That's not for me."

The floor manager then walked on to the set, before shadow boxing in front of Knight and Waller.

Doran joked that he was leaving this week, so wanted to go out 'with a bang'.

Waller, though, was not amused, and said: "I don't think you understand. If I come over there, we are going to have the police here, because I'm not going to give you some fake punch. I am going to punch you straight in the jaw.

"The disrespect you have even talking to me - no, you want to talk to me like this and say this ain't real?

"Don't act all tough... we don't mess around with that!"

After Waller squared up to the floor manager, Doran then stepped in to try and calm the situation down, pushing the crew member aside before apologising to the 33-year-old.

Waller added: "You too Matt, you two come here and try to disrespect us. You're alright, Nat - no, we love you."

Waller then responded to the incident on X (Twitter) by posting a photo of former wrestler David Schultz.

In 1988, Schultz took part in a live interview with a reporter, who stated his belief that wrestling was fake.

The American then slapped the reporter on-air, which dropped him to the floor.

He shouted: "What's wrong with you? What the hell's wrong with you? That's an open-handed slap."

Schultz then added: "You think this is fake?", before slapping the reporter for another time.

Topics: WWE, Wrestling, Australia

Ryan Smart

Live in constant hope of the top flight as a Preston North End fan. Written in the past for SPORF, GiveMeSport and more.