"Maybe his best days are behind him" - WWE star fires shots at Randy Orton ahead of first-ever match
WWE's up-and-coming star Carmelo Hayes recently spoke about facing Randy Orton. Hayes has been impressive since he was recently drafted to Smackdown
Hayes put on an impressive show in his first-round bout against Baron Corbin this week in the King of the Ring tournament. He picked up the win using a small package and advanced to the quarterfinals where he is set to face WWE's Apex Predator.
WWE correspondent Byron Saxton caught up with Hayes after the show. The former NXT Champion mentioned that Randy Orton was a veteran and there was no doubt about his credentials. However, he felt that the Viper's best days were behind him, and people weren't talking about him anymore.
"I think you should be asking Randy if it's set in that he's going against the first round draft pick Carmelo Hayes. I mean 14 World titles, that's a lot. You know, 14 is, he's been here a long time. And I'm afraid, maybe his best days are behind him. I mean, you got to look at it like this, Carmelo Hayes is the future and that's where we're going. We can talk all day about all his accomplishments, all the years, and all the time he's put in here in WWE, but we're not talking about that anymore Byron."
Hayes also decalred that the new era in WWE was all about Him.
"People are talking about the youth movement. People are talking about the future and when they talk about the future, they don't just call it the future, they call it Carnelo Hayes' era, they call it the Him era." [From 0:24 - 1:04 ]
Randy Orton defeated AJ Styles
It was a blockbuster showdown this week on SmackDown as Randy Orton faced AJ Styles in another first-round matchup for the King of the Ring tournament.
The two former World Champions put on a stellar show for the fans in attendance. However, the Viper hit a vicious RKO on Styles to close the content and advance to the next round.
It will be interesting to see how Randy deals with a rookie like Carmelo Hayes in the next round of the King of the Ring tournament.
If you use the quotes from this article, please credit WWE and add an H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcript.