Carmelo Hayes explains why WWE fans were confused about how to react to him
Carmelo Hayes garnered mixed reactions from fans after his main roster debut.
In an interview with Michael Fairman, Hayes addressed the fans’ uncertain initial reaction towards him. He cited they felt the need to cheer for him despite being portrayed as a heel.
“I did feel at one point the fans weren’t sure how to feel about me. Like it almost was like they wanted to cheer for me but I was kind of telling them not to. It’s a warm feeling, you don’t want to be in that position.”
“So the fact that we allowed them to say, ‘It’s ok to like this guy.’ I think they were like, ‘Ok good because we like this guy, we don’t know why we were supposed to not like this guy. He hasn’t done anything for us to not like him.’”
“And I think the best heels come from where you learn to love somebody and then they break your heart and then you learn, ‘Ok, nah I hate you.’ But I never did anything to them so, they were just kind of didn’t really care one way or another. And then you’re going up against their favorite wrestlers and stuff. Why would they cheer you over them?”
Hayes was moved to SmackDown in the 2024 WWE Draft. In his first move on the brand, he challenged Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship on the April 26 edition of the show that year. He briefly teamed up with The Miz in 2025 before winning the United States Championship in December.
Last month, Hayes lost the title to Sami Zayn who put the title on the line against Trick Williams at WrestleMania 42. Williams captured the title in his debut at the Premium Live Event.
Shortly before the event, Hayes talked about missing WrestleMania given the fans’ support especially during his US Title run. He stated that success was earned and not given, a mantra often followed by WWE.
Rosanne Raphael is a wrestling writer with over three and a half years of experience covering all things related to the industry. From a kindergarten teacher to PR Associate to turning her lifelong passion for the industry into a career, Rosanne is currently writing for F4W Online where she focuses on wrestling news, analysis, and storytelling.
Rosanne previously contributed to Sportskeeda as an Assistant Content Manager.
When not consumed by wrestling, Rosanne is a musician and an aspiring artist.