The main event of Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown featured WWE United States Champion Sami Zayn defending his newly won title against Carmelo Hayes, the man he defeated to become the reigning champion.
Zayn successfully retained his championship after a hard-fought battle. During the match, Carmelo sustained an injury to his left leg, but Zayn took advantage of the situation. He executed the Helluva Kick and secured the pinfall while the official was attending to Carmelo in the corner. The show concluded with Trick Williams and Lil Yachty standing tall after taking down Zayn.
According to PWInsider.com, the match was produced by Chris Park, also known as Abyss. It was set up after a segment earlier in the show featuring Zayn, Hayes, Trick Williams, and Lil Yachty. During this segment, Hayes expressed his dissatisfaction with Zayn’s actions during their title match and demanded a rematch. He was referencing Zayn’s opportunistic victory after taking advantage of Trick’s interference. Zayn acknowledged his respect for Carmelo but initially refused to risk his spot at WrestleMania 42 by agreeing to a rematch.
However, after Trick questioned Zayn’s integrity and Zayn reflected on having been in a similar position before, he reconsidered. Carmelo urged Zayn to do the right thing, leading Zayn to agree to a match later that night. In the end, Zayn retained the title and is now scheduled to defend it against Trick Williams at WrestleMania 42.
