Carmelo Hayes Reveals Being Heartbroken Over US Title Loss Before WrestleMania 42

Carmelo Hayes has finally opened up on losing the United States Championship a few weeks before WrestleMania.

Carmelo Hayes Reveals Being Heartbroken Over US Title Loss Before WrestleMania 42

Carmelo Hayes lost the US title to Sami Zayn before WrestleMania 42 [via- WWE]

In Short
  • Carmelo Hayes expressed heartbreak over losing the US Title to Sami Zayn just weeks before WrestleMania 42.
  • Despite the setback, Hayes remains focused on his career and aims to prove himself after missing two WrestleMania events.
  • Fans have criticized WWE's booking of Hayes, who struggled to connect with audiences during his heel persona on the main roster.

Carmelo Hayes sat out of this year’s WrestleMania despite staying hot in its leadup. Once primed to walk into the Showcase of the Immortals as the United States Champion, he lost the title to Sami Zayn with less than a month to go until Mania. Now that the dust has settled on it, Hayes candidly shared what that loss made him feel like.

Speaking to Michael Fairman, the Massachusetts-born wrestler said it was such a heartbreaker for him. Hayes felt like he ran the entire race but got sidestepped just when he was about to throw his arms up and cross the finish line. Calling himself a pro, the former NXT Champion underscored that he always goes above and beyond to deliver what the people in charge ask of him.

‘The Thriller of New England’ didn’t take it personally that WWE took the US title off his shoulders that close to WrestleMania. Hayes wouldn’t dwell on it for long, as he’s someone who doesn’t deal with things like that. He did feel bad about having his incredible US title reign go down in flames for a day or two.

But after that, it was business as usual for Carmelo Hayes. He indeed has a major chip on his shoulder now that he has missed his first two WrestleMania(s) despite being initially touted as a major deal across the board. ‘The A-Champion’ was a first-round draft pick for the SmackDown brand back in 2024.

In his two-year main roster stint thus far, Hayes hasn’t quite exploded like he was expected to. The fans have blamed subpar booking from WWE that has let Hayes down on multiple occasions. They were pushing for him to be added to the Trick Williams vs. Sami Zayn showdown at WrestleMania for the US title to make it a triple threat match. However, that didn’t happen.

Carmelo Hayes addresses initial fan reactions to his heel persona on the main roster

The recent NXT call-ups of Oba Femi and Trick Williams getting over with live crowds in no time is a testament to their charisma and on-screen presentation that the fans were quick to catch on to. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said about Carmelo Hayes, who has yet to take the WWE Universe by storm.

Carmelo Hayes
Carmelo Hayes (via WWE)

In the aforementioned interview, the 31-year-old stated that the fans were confused about how to receive him as a character. Hayes spent a good part of his initial upgrade to SmackDown as a heel, whose job was to make the crowds boo him. However, it was almost like they wanted to root for him.

But he couldn’t embrace that sentiment and had to instead dump on the people. That’s a pretty tough spot to be in. There was no valid reason for the fans to feel negative about Carmelo Hayes, who was trying to make a splash on the main roster after capping off a successful run in NXT.

‘The Killanova’ affirmed that the best heels are often those who end up breaking people’s trust, and he didn’t do that but was still asked to act like one bad guy. Now that WWE is past its WrestleMania season, now is the time for names like him to start over and show the company’s brass if they were actually justified in leaving him off the WrestleMania card this year.

The former US Champion would need to keep his foot on the gas pedal to bolster his chances of getting featured in a prominent spot at WrestleMania 43 in Saudi Arabia. The fans have also been longing for a feud between Carmelo Hayes and his former Trick Melo Gang ally Trick Williams. Now that both are on SmackDown, it should be a matter of time before they cross paths.

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