Andrade congratulates former WWE rival on title win
Andrade was happy to see his former WWE rival Carmelo Hayes win gold on SmackDown last Friday.
The December 26 SmackDown episode saw Hayes capture his first WWE main roster gold by defeating Ilja Dragunov to win the United States Championship. Andrade took notice of the result, sending out a tweet this morning congratulating Hayes and thanking him for the matches they had together when Andrade was with WWE.
Congratulations brother!! @Carmelo_WWE
— “EL IDOLO” ANDRADE (@AndradeElIdolo) December 30, 2025
You deserve it!
Thank you for those great matches! pic.twitter.com/YBhdd25sdu
“Congratulations brother!! @Carmelo_WWE,” Andrade wrote. “You deserve it! Thank you for those great matches!”
In 2024, Andrade and Hayes faced off in a best-of-seven series on SmackDown. Their feud was never fully settled, as the seventh match ended with LA Knight interfering and causing a no contest. That led to a triple threat match for the United States title at Crown Jewel 2024 where Knight defeated Andrade and Hayes.
Hayes responded to Andrade’s tweet this morning and thanked him for how he helped Hayes improve in the ring through their matches.
Amigo!
— Carmelo Hayes (@Carmelo_WWE) December 30, 2025
Glad I got to wrestle you all over the world! Got better every time I shared the ring with you! Thank you bro 🙏🏾 👊🏾 https://t.co/kRvaGJYUOO
“Amigo! Glad I got to wrestle you all over the world! Got better every time I shared the ring with you! Thank you bro”
Andrade, who was released from his WWE contract in September, is now free to sign elsewhere following a holdup with his non-compete clause. He’s set to compete at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 and could return to AEW now that he’s cleared to sign there.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.