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The WWE roster features a handful of wrestlers who are from Australia, and early next year the company will return to host the Elimination Chamber premium live event in February at Optus Stadium in Perth.
It will be the first time WWE will be in the Land Down Under since 2018 and will be the second straight year the event will be hosted outside the U.S. Last year, Elimination Chamber was hosted at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
While the card is not set and won’t be for a few more months, the excitement is building, and pro wrestler Grayson Waller, an Australia native, cannot wait to get back and perform in his home country.
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WWE star Grayson Waller throws out the first pitch prior to the game between the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Aug. 28, 2023. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
"I’m buzzing. The thing is, I’ve heard whispers for, like, the last few years," Waller told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. "I think Australia is such a fun market for WWE. They’ve always had some big shows there and the fans always turn up.
"But, you know, there’s distance, which is never a great thing. So, there’s always been that little bit of, ‘we think, we think, we think,’ so to finally see that announcement, not only is it just a live event, it’s Elimination Chamber — which is a show that basically sets up WrestleMania. It’s going to be a huge show in Perth. Optus Stadium — that’s a huge stadium, too.
"We’re not only going to Australia, we’re doing it bigger than ever before."
Grayson Waller in the ring for 'The Grayson Waller Effect.' (WWE)
WWE has been to several places around the globe in recent months. It held Superstar Spectacle in India earlier in September; Money in the Bank was in London in July; Night of Champions was in Saudi Arabia in May; Backlash was in Puerto Rico in April; and Clash at the Castle was held in Scotland in September 2022.
Waller explained why he believes the atmosphere will be very much different from shows in the U.S. He said the average WWE fan — especially someone that lives in or near a major metropolitan area — could see a bunch of shows in a year, while Australians have to wait.
"For Australia, we don’t really have that same opportunity. With at least 30 hours of travel to even get there, we didn’t have the opportunity to see everybody very often," Waller said. "It’s been four years since we’ve had shows there. When you get to see these stars, this is the first time you’re seeing certain people on the card, so there’s a different level of excitement because this is like a real treat."
A general view of Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia, on July 18, 2023. (Daniel Carson/Getty Images)
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Waller recalled how he first got into wrestling. He said he first started to watch matches on tapes via Blockbuster Video, and then his mother took him to his first match when he was around 12 years old.
"She wasn’t a wrestling fan at all, but she still, to this day, talks about Shawn Michaels versus Ric Flair, which is a crazy match to say that I got go and see when I’m 12 years old. But that was the one that I remember seeing and love talking about it and just how crazy Ric was at his age, taking all these crazy moves and things like that," he said.
"I’ve always been a WWE fan for a long time, and it used to be a thing where you get to see them every year — they’d come out and you had Raw or you had SmackDown and you’d see the different people. For it to be four years, there’s a lot of kids, there’s a lot of adults who haven’t got to see me live, and I think Elimination Chamber is the show where you’ve got to see it live."
The announcement is one of the first major ones since WWE merged with UFC to become TKO Group Holdings. The event is set to take place Feb. 24.
"Perth is the perfect location for a major WWE Premium Live Event in Australia, following a series of record-breaking WWE events in iconic international destinations," WWE senior vice president Chris Legentil said in a news release last week.
WWE wrestlers Grayson Waller and Big E greet one another prior to the game between the Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Aug. 28, 2023. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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"With a week full of WWE events and experiences, we hope to leave a lasting memory for Western Australia and the entire WWE Universe."
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