Carmelo Hayes Remains Unfazed After Loss on 5/17 WWE SmackDown

Carmelo Hayes finished up his time in NXT after losing to Trick Williams and was called up to SmackDown on the opening night of the 2024 WWE Draft. While he was unable to win a big match on SmackDown this week, Hayes made it clear he remains unfazed.

In the main event of the May 17 episode of WWE SmackDown, Carmelo Hayes faced Randy Orton in King of the Ring quarterfinal match. Orton ultimately won with a mid-air RKO. This match marked Hayes’ second time competing in the main event since joining SmackDown, as he previously squared off against Cody Rhodes.

While speaking in an interview following this week’s episode of Friday night SmackDown, Carmelo Hayes made it clear he didn’t consider his loss as an actual loss, making it clear he faced a big Superstar like Randy Orton and stood toe to toe with him and almost beat him.

“You want to talk about if I lost. You know what? The way I look at it, I didn’t lose. I just didn’t win. Look, Randy Orton, 14-time world champ, all the accolades in the world, but I stood toe to toe with him. I almost beat Randy Orton, just like I almost beat Cody Rhodes. You want to talk about facts, you want to talk about stats, this is my second main event here on SmackDown. So that’s a win in itself. On top of that, my signing bonus hits tomorrow, so I’m already thinking about all the things that I’m gonna buy. Maybe I’m gonna buy a new chain, maybe I’m gonna buy a new car, maybe I’m gonna buy a new house. Maybe I’m gonna buy my girl some jewelry, some purses, all those type of things. At the end of the day, the day’s gotta end.”

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We will have to wait and see what’s next in store for Carmelo Hayes now that he is no longer part of The King of The Ring tournament. It is likely WWE will have something major planned for him in the end.

Were you impressed by Carmelo Hayes’ showing on this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown? Let us know in the comments section below!