Carmelo Hayes Talks Cody Rhodes Requesting To Work With Him During Rehab From Injury

Following his Hell In A Cell victory in June of 2022, Cody Rhodes had to undergo surgery in order to repair a torn pectoral injury he sustained leading up to the match. Rhodes' road to recovery would be a long one, but luckily, he had the support of his family, friends, and two of the brightest stars of "NXT." Before finally making his comeback at this year's Royal Rumble, Rhodes trained at the WWE Performance Center with "NXT" Champion Carmelo Hayes and Joe Gacy.

During a recent episode of "Cheap Heat," Hayes reflected on his experience working with Rhodes through his rehab. "[WWE] had mentioned to me, they said, 'Hey, Cody requested to train with you and Joe Gacy in the next week or so.' And I was like, 'Oh, shoot. Cool.'"

Hayes said that he had interacted with Rhodes two or three times prior, but being handpicked to help train with Rhodes proved to be an even richer experience for Hayes. "He showed up and a lot of people are like, 'We helped Cody,' but I learned a lot from Cody in that in that time working with him," Hayes said. "He was fine, like he didn't need my help. I think he just needed the clearance from medical to go through. So, we had worked for like 3 or 4 days. We did matches on the fly. We were just working and we were just having fun ...You know, [Cody]'s like, 'Melo and Joe Gacy helped me,' but he helped me a lot, actually."

Cody Rhodes would go onto win his first match back — the Royal Rumble — leading to his big title opportunity at WrestleMania 39 whereas Hayes would finally capture the "NXT" Championship over WrestleMania at Stand & Deliver.