Kemo
09-29-2023, 07:44 PM
Carmelo Hayes' time on the main roster will come one day, but the reigning NXT Champion is fine with waiting for the right moment.
Hayes made his NXT debut in June 2021, and would capture his first of two NXT North American Championships in October of that year. The following January, Hayes defeated NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong to unify the two titles, becoming the final holder of the Cruiserweight title. Today, Hayes is in his first reign as WWE NXT Champion, with his reign beginning at NXT Stand & Deliver 2023 in April.
While many believe Hayes is ready for WWE's main roster, the reigning NXT Champion has only had a handful of matches outside the gold brand, with only one match happening on Monday Night Raw. That bout saw Hayes lose to Finn Balor during the June 26, Raw.
Sitting down with The Messenger, Hayes recalled a time when he was told he was not ready for the main roster, and the words of advice from NXT's Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels
"He gave me a really good analogy. I don't want you to start building your roof when you haven't laid the groundwork yet. You're already trying to put in your windows and you haven't even finished doing your thing.' That's where we're at now."
Hayes took the words of his mentor to heart.
"I was like, 'Yeah, let me continue to build brick by brick by brick.' When I'm able to get to that point where it's time to put a roof on this thing, I'll go to the main roster and start building that roof."
Carmelo Hayes will defend the WWE NXT Championship against Ilja Dragunov at this weekend's NXT No Mercy event.
Hayes made his NXT debut in June 2021, and would capture his first of two NXT North American Championships in October of that year. The following January, Hayes defeated NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong to unify the two titles, becoming the final holder of the Cruiserweight title. Today, Hayes is in his first reign as WWE NXT Champion, with his reign beginning at NXT Stand & Deliver 2023 in April.
While many believe Hayes is ready for WWE's main roster, the reigning NXT Champion has only had a handful of matches outside the gold brand, with only one match happening on Monday Night Raw. That bout saw Hayes lose to Finn Balor during the June 26, Raw.
Sitting down with The Messenger, Hayes recalled a time when he was told he was not ready for the main roster, and the words of advice from NXT's Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels
"He gave me a really good analogy. I don't want you to start building your roof when you haven't laid the groundwork yet. You're already trying to put in your windows and you haven't even finished doing your thing.' That's where we're at now."
Hayes took the words of his mentor to heart.
"I was like, 'Yeah, let me continue to build brick by brick by brick.' When I'm able to get to that point where it's time to put a roof on this thing, I'll go to the main roster and start building that roof."
Carmelo Hayes will defend the WWE NXT Championship against Ilja Dragunov at this weekend's NXT No Mercy event.