NXT's Carmelo Hayes Talks About Having WWE's John Cena In His Corner

As "WWE NXT" soon goes head-to-head with "AEW Dynamite," WWE's development brand will boast some notable names on tonight's programming, two of which are John Cena and Paul Heyman. For this occasion, Cena will be in the corner of former "NXT" Champion Carmelo Hayes as he takes on Bron Breakker, who will be accompanied by The Bloodline's "Wiseman" Paul Heyman. During an appearance on "Busted Open Radio," Hayes opened up about the opportunity to be backed by the 16-time world champion.

While Hayes admits there's some level of pressure heading into tonight, he is ecstatic to watch it all unfold. "There's pressure every night, especially, when they're trusting you in the positions that they've trusted me in for so many times," Hayes said. "With having Cena by my side, the pro in me wants to say, 'Yeah, this is another day at work,' but the kid in me wants to say, 'Holy crap, this is so freaking cool'. But at the same time, I have to realize what the task is at hand. The task is, at hand, bringing all these new eyes that are looking and keeping everybody who's tuning in because John's not going to be there every week. Paul is not going to be there every week, so it's really just — these guys are, in a way, a catalyst to help bring more viewership to the guys that are going to stay every single Tuesday after this. So it is a pressure and it's a responsibility, and I feel like they picked the right two people to hold it down."

Outside of the added layers of Cena and Heyman, tonight's matchup will also be a rematch for Hayes and Breakker, who last faced off at "NXT" Battleground. There, Hayes successfully retained the "NXT" Championship against Breakker — the man he defeated to win the title at "NXT" Stand & Deliver in April.

If you use quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.