Carmelo Hayes wants to bring storylines back to WWE United States title
WWE’s United States Championship open challenge series has been a good showcase, but Carmelo Hayes is now hoping to branch out a bit more with his reign.
Hayes told Good Karma Wrestling that the U.S. title open challenges have been “crucial” in allowing him to work matches and show what he can do in the ring. He believes his style meshes well with all types of opponents, and everyone on the WWE roster is a fantastic worker. But Hayes agrees with the fan sentiment that it would be good to bring back storylines to the U.S. title picture instead of just having one-off defenses.
“To be honest, I think the open challenge is becoming a little bit more — I know people have been saying about storylines. I do want to bring storylines back because I do feel like there is a period where guys have to earn an opportunity to get a title shot,” Hayes responded when asked who he would like to defend his title against in an open challenge.
“You know what I mean? I don’t think guys should just be able to pull up every Friday and just automatically get a title shot. Because I didn’t get — until the open challenge opened, I had to earn one. And it took a lot. If you guys remember, I was battling Andrade freaking every week, just killing ourselves to get an opportunity for an opportunity. So you know what I mean, I’d like to bring that back.”
The U.S. title open challenge was brought back by Sami Zayn during his reign as a way to pay tribute to John Cena. Ilja Dragunov and Hayes have now carried on the tradition.
During the Good Karma Wrestling interview, Hayes named Shawn Michaels, Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, The Miz, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, and Paul “Triple H” Levesque as some of the people who have helped him in WWE. Miz is someone who was always able to help Hayes gain perspective whenever he was feeling low.
“He’s a cool dude, man. Despite what people want to portray him as or whatever,” Hayes said about Miz. “I’m trying to think of a word how to explain it. He’s necessary, if that makes sense. Like, he’s a necessary person to have around.”
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.