Carmelo Hayes held the WWE United States Championship for 91 days. During that stretch, he defended the belt on almost every SmackDown as he held an open challenge. The matches were great, but even Hayes was getting tired of the same routine and wanted a storyline. Instead of listening to this feedback, the WWE chose to ignore the request and continued to issue open challenges.
That’s egregious within itself, but it only just got worse for Hayes. Last week, he lost his title to Sami Zayn, in large part due to Trick Williams’s interference in the match. This was the ultimate layup to have a triple threat match at WrestleMania 42 between Zayn, Williams, and Hayes.
It seemed as if it was headed towards that path, with Hayes earning a rematch for the US title the following week. The WWE universe even backed him and vocalized their feelings during a segment between the three.
Even with all these factors, the ball was dropped, and Hayes lost cleanly to Zayn, ultimately ending any hope of him earning a match at Mania.
It was obvious that the WWE took no time to find any type of story for Hayes when he finally achieved glory. Funny enough, besides now, when was the last time the US title had any type of story? You have to go back to when Solo Sikoa took the belt off of Jacob Fatu, and that is going back nearly a year ago. Once Zayn defeated Sikoa for the belt, open challenges were being shoved down the fans’ throats.
Ilja Dragunov’s reign went the same exact way; nothing changed. This just goes to show how the WWE Creative team is putting in no effort to make the title mean anything significant.
What makes this situation even more shameful is that there was finally a story to tell with Hayes. He alluded to having a history with Williams and even promised him that he was going to return a receipt for what Williams did.
Hayes is no slouch on the mic, and this could have been a good two weeks of promos and brawls heading into WrestleMania. The results that played out now have him looking on the outside in of WrestleMania.
Having Hayes lose this match with no outside interference essentially put the dagger in his WrestleMania hopes. A disqualification would have been the smartest route to take to end this match.
Williams could have either interfered with the ref looking this time, or an even more interesting angle could have been taken. Zayn was so hell-bent on making it to WrestleMania that he even did things out of his character and took advantage of his opponents being hurt by others. He even did it this go-around, hitting a Helluva Kick with the referee checking in on Hayes.
Zayn’s once positive crowd reaction is also beginning to change. He was noticeably booed during his promo and match, and has earned massive dislikes with his two most recent victories.
This ending could have been Zayn hitting Hayes with a low blow or the belt to ensure he stays champion heading into Mania. The snowball effect would have likely been general manager Nick Aldis making an announcement that Hayes would be included in the title match between Zayn and Williams.
In the event that Hayes still gets added to the match, it would make little to no sense now. Losing in a rematch effectively ends the conversation of being in the title picture for some time, and making the choice to add Hayes would be due to outside noise.
The outrage after the last edition of SmackDown was at an all-time high. The once hyped Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes feud is now up in flames with the inclusion of Pat McAfee. On top of that, the closing of the show had fans even more furious at the booking.
It seemed as if Hayes was finally going to get to shine on the grandest stage of them all. With the cards falling the way they did, it seems as if he will be left off of another Premium Live Event. His last appearance on a PLE was the 2025 Royal Rumble, where he was quickly eliminated by Bron Breakker.
It is truly a shame that the road to WrestleMania has completely fallen into a wild tailspin of bad booking. For someone whose catchphrase is “Melo Don’t Miss”, it appears that, sadly, Melo is going to miss Mania, and that’s a slap in the face to the fans.
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