WWE NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes recently appeared as a guest on After The Bell with Corey Graves for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling. During the discussion, Hayes was asked what his goals were when he got to NXT:
“I knew when I first got there, I wanted to be something different. I remember black and gold era. Everybody talks about and romanticizes the black and gold era so much and it was great. It was awesome in the peak, but right after the whole thing with COVID in that ThunderDome era of WWE and NXT, it was kind of on a decline in a way. I remember watching the show as a brand new signee and I’m thinking, man, there’s so much missing here that I feel I could bring to this show. There just needs to be something like, nobody’s doing this, nobody’s doing this, nobody’s doing this. I’m like, man, I just need the opportunity. So I worked hard for like four or five months in the Performance Center just getting ready and working the little live event shows that we had.”
“Finally they gave me a shot, they gave me my name, and then two days later they gave me a shot against Kushida for the Cruiserweight title in my debut. After that match, I had done really well, but I remember talking to Hunter after. I was like, ‘Man, I know I could do so much better.’ Then I remember talking to Shawn and I was telling Shawn straight up, I said, ‘Man, I really want to be a top guy. I don’t want to get like, nothing wrong with 205 Live. I know I’m undersized, but I don’t want to be a 205 Live guy.’ Shawn will even say to this day that he kind of respected that I had the balls to come up to him and tell him that, and here we are. I bet on myself at that very moment and that was something that I just believed. It was like, I know I have a lot to offer for this brand. Just give me the ball.”
His thoughts on Trick Williams:
“Trick is such a big character. It’s hard to explain. When you put him on screen, you put him next to anybody, it automatically lights up the room in a way. So I think with my character, because I’m pretty chill and I’m pretty mellow, he adds that sort of flavor and seasoning in life to everything that we do, which I’m super fortunate for with Trick. With my matches and stuff, we have a lot of good chemistry where I can pass on the ball, he can just shoot it up, but then I can go rebound it, that type of relationship where it’s like, if I need him he’s there. He got me in any situation. I’m just so happy with his progression because when he first came in, he was really new. A lot of these guys here were really, really new. So to see his match with Bron Breakker on Tuesday and how far he’s progressed, it makes me proud because he’s so close to me in a way, especially with on TV and stuff, it’s a testament to all of our hard work to get to this point to make two stars out of one situation.”
The meaning of HIM:
“It’s really the journey of my progression in a way. There was a period in time where I had the North American Championship and I was calling myself the A-champ, meaning at that time, I truly believed I was the most important champion on the brand. So for a long time it was like, you know, the A-champ, the A-champ, the A-champ. When I lost the championship, I’d kind of gone on to the, One of One. I tried to call myself that to kind of get that started, like, hey, there’s only one of me. Then on the journey to get the NXT title, for me, it was like, ‘Hey, I’m the guy. I’m HIM.’ Like anybody who’s going to be the guy, if anybody’s going to take that title, if anybody’s going to do it, it’s me. I am HIM. So that’s where that whole HIM thing really kind of came from where it was like, you can’t deny me. I’m the guy. It’s another thing going back to pop culture in sports. HIM is very popular right now, like a lot of guys when they do something great, they self proclaim themselves, ‘I am HIM. I did that. I’m the one. I’m the guy. I am, HIM.'”
Speaking of Hayes, he spoke with PWMania.com‘s Ari Barkan during a Press Junket in Los Angeles. During the discussion, Hayes was asked if debuting in WWE’s main roster with The Hurt Business or solo would be more impactful:
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You can see what Hayes said in the video below:
(If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit PWMania.com with a h/t to PWMania.com for the transcription)
You can listen to After The Bell With Corey Graves below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
