30-year-old WWE Superstar reacts to huge title shot; defeated AJ Styles via referee stoppage last week
The WWE Universe was delighted to see AJ Styles make a comeback on SmackDown after two long months. While The Phenomenal One addressed the crowd and talked about his wrestling journey, a 30-year-old superstar proceeded to interrupt and mock him. However, Styles could not teach him a lesson and lost the match against him via referee stoppage. The name in question is Carmelo Hayes.
Melo has been causing trouble for several big names in the locker room. He dragged LA Knight into his already red-hot feud with Andrade a few weeks ago, getting the reigning United States Champion's attention via a sucker punch. Last week, Melo had initially denied fighting AJ Styles but later accepted the match when an aggravated Knight offered him a title shot if he won the bout.
Now, following his win last week, Carmelo Hayes reacted to the huge title bout scheduled for October 11, 2024, and shared the match's graphic via a tweet on X/Twitter.
"Cream rises to the top. #AndNew #Smackdown," Carmelo Hayes shared.
Check out his tweet below:
Notably, Hayes also sneaked in an 'And New' hashtag, suggesting that he would easily dethrone the current United States Champion.
Current WWE champion could cost Carmelo Hayes his title match
While Carmelo Hayes will be facing LA Knight this week, his feud with Andrade is not over yet. Notably, Melo had defeated the current WWE Speed Champion by taking advantage of a distraction caused by The Megastar. Moreover, he has also made his feud against the 34-year-old star highly personal via several backhanded comments.
Thus, although their head-to-head score is even at 3-3, Andrade could make the first move this time and cost Hayes the title opportunity. Additionally, AJ Styles won't be sitting quietly since he just made his comeback and is not really a babyface in the company right now.
While Andrade and The Phenomenal One stand as the most probable threats to Melo, former United States Champion Baron Corbin could also try to insert himself in the title picture. Notably, The Lone Wolf recently expressed his desire to get his hands on gold again and said that he was working very hard for it.
Additionally, Corbin is one of the stars Hayes had pinned during his campaign which he had started shortly after his main roster promotion. It would be interesting to see if Melo's strategies earn him his first main roster title in WWE or if he finally pays for messing around with big names.