An Indie star has debuted at WWE NXT, and the new star of the black and gold brand is named Carmelo Hayes.
CARMELO HAYES DEBUTED AT THIS WEEK’S EPISODE OF WWE NXT
On this week’s episode of WWE NXT, Carmelo Hayes stepped up to answer the open challenge thrown by the current holder of the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Kushida. While Hayes managed to exhibit an impressive illustration of his moveset and controlled much of the match, it was Kushida who managed to defeat him in the end with his trusty Hoverboard Lock submission maneuver.
NXT commentator Wade Barrett noted that the debutant has already been impressing coaches and his fellow trainees at the WWE Performance Centre.
Triple H was impressed by his performance:
The episode also involved a particularly violent return by former NXT Champion Adam Cole, who interrupted a match to determine the next challenger for Karrion Kross’ NXT Championship. Around twenty minutes into the match, Cole appeared and proved his presence by taking every competitor down. NXT General Manager William Regal had to come out in order to stop the chaos. Cole did leave, but not before hitting former The Undisputed Era partner Kyle O’Reilly with a superkick.
HE WAS KNOWN AS CHRISTIAN CASANOVA IN THE INDIE SCENE
In Late February, He was announced as part of the largest WWE Performance Centre group in the history of the facility. The class included Rick Steiner’s son Bronson Rechsteiner, college football standout Parker Boudreaux, former Impact Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie, NXT’s LA Knight, AQA, Anthony Henry, Harlem Bravado, NXT’s Zoey Stark, NXT’s Gigi Dolin, Drew Kasper, NXT’s Cora Jade, Blake Christian, Matrick Belton, Camron Branae, Joe Ariola, Avery Taylor, and Karissa Rivera.
Amongst other promotions, Hayes, known in the indie scene as Christian Casanova, has wrestled for Beyond Wrestling between 2008 and 2011, Chaotic Wrestling from 2010 to 2012, Northeast Championship Wrestling (NCW) from 2012 to 2014, Limitless Wrestling from 2014 to 2016 and Lucky Pro Wrestling between 2016 and 2018. Most recently, he returned to Northeast Championship Wrestling, where he wrestled regularly from 2017 to 2020, before signing the WWE contract.
