Shawn Michaels Announces Who Will Represent NXT In The WWE U.S. Title Tournament

By Kellie Haulotte
Shawn Michaels posing Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock

Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels has announced that former "NXT" Champion Carmelo Hayes will be part of the ongoing WWE United States Championship tournament on "WWE SmackDown."

The WWE United States Champion Logan Paul first announced on the December 1 episode of "SmackDown" that an eight-man tournament was to take place to determine his next challenger, with the tournament beginning at Tribute to the Troops special episode of "SmackDown." Paul had also teased that someone from the "NXT" brand was going to be part of the event. 

The original seven men announced were Santos Escobar, Dragon Lee, Karrion Kross, Bobby Lashley, Grayson Waller, Austin Theory, and Kevin Owens. Since the December 8 episode of "SmackDown," both Lee and Kross have been eliminated, while Escobar and Lashley have advanced to the next round.

Hayes has had an eventful week as he defeated Lexis King this past Saturday at the "NXT" Deadline PLE. This was after weeks of King saying that he was the one who attacked Trick Williams, while also implying that Hayes was the one that put him up to it. However, after Hayes defeated King at Deadline, he quickly said it wasn't him who attacked the former "NXT" North American Champion. He also "thanked" Hayes for his first WWE PLE event and the spotlight.

Apart from being a former "NXT" Champion, Hayes is a two-time "NXT" North American Champion and a former "NXT" Cruiserweight Champion and has been with WWWE since February 2021. Hayes made his main roster debut earlier this year when he faced off against Finn Balor on "WWE Raw."

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