Carmelo Hayes Admits To WWE Main Roster Learning Curve

Fans of Carmelo Hayes were thrilled when he finally won his first gold on the main roster when he defeated fellow former NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov in the United States Championship Open Challenge on "WWE SmackDown." That win came on the December 26 episode, almost two full years after he was chosen first in the 2024 WWE Draft, marking his main roster call-up from "WWE NXT." Hayes sat down on the "Beyond the Bell" podcast and discussed his journey from developmental to the main roster, and the learning curve that came with it.

"The adjustment from being in a small pond and being a big fish to going into an ocean of sharks and being just a little minnow and trying to navigate those waters was very challenging," Hayes said. "Not so much the wrestling part of it... Just a different game. Winning all of those things and kind of being the guy [in NXT] helped me get into this position where I'm like, 'Okay, all you got to do is give me the ball. I know I can do it.'"

Hayes said he knew it wasn't a matter of if he could, but when the time was right. Now, with the United States Championship and him carrying on the weekly open challenge, he's showing everyone exactly who he said he was in "NXT," now on the main roster. He addressed the viral "#WeWantMelo" hashtag that fans got trending when they felt he wasn't being used correctly.

"That was cool. That was one of those things, #WeWantMelo, I was getting a little nervous," he said. "Because I'm here. It was a matter of if this happens the way it needs to happen. It's out of my control type of thing."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Beyond the Bell" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.