Carmelo Hayes thanked WWE legend backstage at recent SmackDown show, Teddy Long says (Exclusive)

Carmelo Hayes has featured regularly on WWE SmackDown in recent months. Teddy Long, a former referee and on-screen authority figure, recently witnessed a conversation between the main roster star and WWE legend Ron Simmons.

Simmons, aka Faarooq, attended the September 13, 2024, episode of SmackDown alongside Long in Seattle, Washington. They spoke to wrestlers backstage and appeared in the crowd during the show.

Long said on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine that Hayes thanked Simmons for helping him earlier in his career:

"He was already talking to Ron and I came up and spoke to Carmelo and Ron, and I remember him standing there and he was telling Ron, he said, 'Ron, you remember you gave me some advice back, blah, blah, blah, back when,' or something. He was thanking him for it. Carmelo Hayes was one of those guys." [8:03 – 8:18]

In the video above, Long explained to host Mac Davis why Xavier Woods needs to make a small adjustment to his in-ring performances.

Teddy Long compares Carmelo Hayes' attitude to other wrestlers

WWE legends from past generations are often present backstage to give advice to the company's current talents.

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While Carmelo Hayes was happy to receive Ron Simmons' feedback several years ago, Teddy Long thinks some wrestlers dislike hearing critiques from veterans:

"This is a different world and different era now, so sometimes you can go to some of the older guys and some of those guys are kinda stuck in their ways. What I mean about that is when you go up to them to try to get some advice, they start cussing. 'Goddam it, man, why?' You know what I mean?" [8:38 – 8:55]

Long added that some up-and-coming talents avoid asking for advice because they are scared to get "chewed out" by wrestlers with more experience.

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Please credit Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.