When Carmelo Hayes joined the main roster in April 2024 after being drafted to SmackDown, there seemed to be a lot of promise. Heck, his debut match was against the WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes. Since then, Hayes has been in a few marquee matches with his biggest accomplishment coming in April when he won the Andre The Giant Battle Royal.
With that being said, the push has not been consistent for Hayes. It’s now gotten to the point where fans have voiced their displeasure with how he is being booked. The noise became so loud that on July 28, the hashtag #WeWantMelo became a top 5 trend on X. He noticed this outcry and took the time to tell the fans how much he appreciated the support.
The trend didn’t immediately come to fruition. However, with the current storyline Hayes is in, it seems as if the WWE has finally decided to put him in a position to eventually launch him into true stardom.
A few months ago, Hayes and The Miz aligned to form Melo Don’t Miz. Hayes was skeptical of at first, but later warmed up to the idea of having a veteran by his side. As time went on, The Miz stepped away from programming, and Hayes was on his own. He then had to recalibrate and focus on what he could accomplish solo, but that all changed once he decided to take the initiative on bettering his career.
Two weeks ago, Hayes attempted to speak to SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis in an attempt to enter the United States Championship picture. Instead of Aldis answering the door, The Miz walked out of his office, which led to Hayes voicing his disappointment in being left high and dry. He expressed his future goals, and The Miz responded by stating it takes time to get to that point.
The Miz then broke the news to Hayes that he spoke with Aldis and got them both a tag team match the following week, reuniting the team of Melo Don’t Miz. The twist was that although The Miz walked out of Aldis’ office, he was never in there. It wasn’t until shortly after Hayes exited the picture that he entered the frame.
Unlike before, where The Miz appeared to be a mentor to Hayes, it now seems as if his motives have completely changed. The main goal now seems to be holding Hayes back from the main event spotlight and taking the credit for his success. In their win against Fraxiom last week, he was setting up his finisher, Nothing But Net. Instead of executing, The Miz came in out of nowhere, tagged himself in, and hit Nathan Frazer with a Skull Crushing Finale to end the match.
Even though Hayes was the victor, pinning one of the best teams in WWE right now in his home state of Massachusetts would have been huge for him. Without saying a word, everyone could see how disappointed he was that he didn’t finish the match.
The Miz sees this as a big win for the team, but Hayes can slowly see what’s unfolding in front of his eyes. It creates an interesting dynamic between the two and keeps the fans thinking about what else The Miz could have up his sleeve.
Seeing what has transpired over the last two episodes of SmackDown, it’s clear that Hayes is being booked in something that will build up for weeks. This is good news, as there would be times when he did not even show up on any program, or at most, get a short backstage segment. This Friday, Melo Don’t Miz is set to face the Motor City Machine Guns, who planted a seed on what might unfold. During their backstage segment, Chris Sabin made it known to Hayes that he’s being manipulated and shortly asked Hayes if he’s “him” or “his” while pointing at The Miz.
What’s interesting is that once Aldis made the match official, Hayes looked disappointed that he was stuck in the tag team scene. Fans might be scared about this story possibly fading. This happened with A-Town Down Under, where a breakup was teased for months and ultimately led to Grayson Waller announcing out of nowhere that he dumped Austin Theory.
This is a different circumstance, no disrespect to Waller and Theory, but The Miz is a certified future hall-of-famer. This is leading up to the veteran putting someone over, and there’s no way the WWE can disregard that story and let it go to the wayside. SmackDown needs intriguing storylines, and this has the potential to be one that piques the interest of many viewers.
Hayes has the goods to be a featured superstar in this business. His promos before entering the ring are savage, and he can put on a show in the ring with his matches against Andrade being a prime example. The main message to the Melo supporters is to be patient; the buildup to either Hayes turning on The Miz or vice versa will get the crowd behind him and will eventually springboard him into doing big things in the business.
The WWE definitely took note of fans wanting to feature Hayes, and by the looks of it, their wish will finally come true at some point down the road.
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