Baron Corbin’s return on SmackDown did more than cost Carmelo Hayes a huge match. It also led Hayes to dig up a tweet from months ago that suddenly took on a whole new meaning.
Corbin made his surprise WWE return during Hayes’ match against United States Champion Trick Williams on the July 10 episode of SmackDown. As Hayes looked ready to put Trick away, Corbin yanked him off the apron before stepping into the ring and planting him with an End of Days, bringing the match to a chaotic finish.
After SmackDown went off the air, Hayes took to Twitter and quoted one of his own posts from February, when WWE announced he would be holding a United States Championship Open Challenge. Back then, a fan replied by saying they wished they could answer the challenge.
“Wish I could! He’s so good.”
Hayes fired back with an invitation.
“Lonewolf! Pull up 🙏🏾”
Nearly five months later, Corbin finally answered the call. Hayes resurfaced that same exchange after SmackDown and summed up Corbin’s return in just two words.
“Well damn.”
The callback quickly caught attention, as Corbin’s return played out almost exactly like Hayes jokingly suggested earlier this year. The only difference is that instead of answering an open challenge, Corbin showed up to derail Hayes’ biggest opportunity.
Corbin had not appeared in WWE since his release on November 1, 2024, after the company chose not to renew his contract following a 12-year run. His surprise return immediately became one of the biggest moments of SmackDown and left the Oklahoma City crowd chanting “holy sh*t” after the End of Days connected.
Now that Corbin is officially back, it appears his first target is Carmelo Hayes. Judging by Hayes’ social media reaction, even he didn’t expect his old tweet to come back and haunt him.
What do you think of Baron Corbin targeting Carmelo Hayes in his WWE return? Was this the right way to bring Corbin back, or should WWE have gone in a different direction? Let us know in the comments.
