Triple H Reacts to Carmelo Hayes’ Stunning US Title Win on the Last SmackDown of 2025

Triple H has predicted big things for Carmelo Hayes' WWE future after his career-altering US title win on this week's SmackDown.

Triple H Reacts to Carmelo Hayes’ Stunning US Title Win on the Last SmackDown of 2025

Triple H congratulates Carmelo Hayes on his US title triumph [via- WWE and Triple H/@x]

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WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque has had his fair share of criticism in 2025 for a ton of questionable booking decisions he and his creative team made. But deciding to put the United States title on Carmelo Hayes certainly isn’t one among them. In fact, the fans, for a change, have sided with ‘The Game’ for hitting the nail on the head with Hayes.

The 31-year-old sent shockwaves through the WWE Universe by downing an invincible-looking Ilja Dragunov in an absolute barn-burner. Since this week’s SmackDown was taped alongside Raw, the fatigue was obvious with the crowd that had to sit through the course of almost 4 hours.

But the way Hayes and Dragunov worked the audience was a testament to their in-ring prowess and unmatched chemistry. The folks erupted in rhapsody the moment Carmelo Hayes got the pinfall victory over ‘The Mad Dragon’.

The latter, who was an incredible fighting champion for the past two months, displayed sheer class by tying the US title belt around Hayes’s waist in a sign of respect. The former NXT Champion was warmly greeted by Triple H in the gorilla position, as could be seen in the following post by ‘The Cerebral Assassin’.

Levesque did his signature ‘finger-point’ pose with Hayes grinning ear to ear. The lead WWE booker wrote in his caption that the year isn’t over until the bell rings. He then congratulated the former Melo Don’t Miz member for winning the prestigious mid-card title and affirmed that big things are on the horizon for the Massachusetts-born wrestler.

Hayes also took to X to react to some of the highlights from the match that took place days ago. He labeled the closing sequence to it as the craziest feeling ever, and it made him feel as if the fans lifted him up to the top rope. Hayes’ fiancée, Kelani Jordan, posted a couple of selfies with the man who claims he’s ‘H1M’, and she wrote, “Feels like Christmas all over again.”

Could Brian Gewirtz replace Triple H as the creative head of WWE?

Triple H has been steering the creative ship for WWE since late 2022 after Vince McMahon landed in hot water over hush money allegations, which were barely the tip of the iceberg. ‘The Game’ received heavy critical acclaim from the WWE Universe for about a good year and a half. This year, in particular, reeked of creative fatigue to a level that miffed the core wrestling audience of the company.

Triple H, The Rock and Brian Gewirtz
Triple H, The Rock, and Brian Gewirtz [via- ITR Wrestling and The Rock/@Instagram]

One could always find the internet being hypothetical about finding a better replacement for Triple H in the role he’s currently serving. While a minuscule audience has mildly vouched for Vince McMahon’s return to the fold, it seems highly unlikely. But what is likely, as per Jonathan Coachman, is The Rock‘s personal writer upstaging ‘The King of Kings’ from his WWE hierarchy.

On his The Coach and Bro podcast, Coachman hailed Brian Gewirtz as the little ace in the hole that walks around with ‘The Great One’. The former Raw commentator mentioned how Rock secured Gewirtz from WWE to work for his Seven Bucks Productions. Gewirtz, a former lead writer for WWE, has been working for Dwayne Johnson for the past two decades.

That makes him arguably the most trusted aide of ‘The Final Boss’, and as Coach said, if one thinks Rock wouldn’t be willing to have Gewirtz take charge of WWE’s creative, they’re being mistaken. Coachman was one of the first in this space to raise concerns about Levesque and Johnson being at odds after ‘The Great One’ no-showed at WrestleMania 41.

Although it’s pure speculation until either of the men decides to break the ice on what had transpired between them, Rock exiting the John Cena heel turn storyline sparked rumors of his creative rift with Triple H.

‘The People’s Champ’ notably excluded ‘The Game’ from the list of people he’d have creative discussions with in a post directed at Dave LaGreca, who had trashed on the Hollywood mogul for throwing Triple H and team under the bus by not getting involved in the WrestleMania ending.

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