The final name to be added to the US Title tournament on WWE SmackDown has been confirmed.
Following on from his victory at Crown Jewel, new United States Champion Logan Paul announced that an 8-man tournament would be taking place to crown a new number one contender. The announced names were Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley, Austin Theory, Grayson Waller, Karrion Kross, Santos Escobar, Dragon Lee and a Superstar from NXT to be confirmed. On December 8th, Lashley defeated Kross and Escobar defeated Lee to advance to the next round.
On December 11th, Shawn Michaels announced on WWE’s social media that the NXT star who will be joining the tournament will be Carmelo Hayes, who will face Grayson Waller in the opening round on the December 15th episode. On the same episode, Kevin Owens will still face Austin Theory despite suffering an injury to his hand.
BREAKING: @ShawnMichaels has announced that the #WWENXT Superstar entering the #USTitle Tournament on #SmackDown is former @WWENXT Champion @Carmelo_WWE! pic.twitter.com/gqx4fX2GwR
— WWE (@WWE) December 11, 2023
Hayes will hope to continue the positive momentum after having a successful night at NXT Deadline, where he defeated Lexis King at the Premium Live Event. Hayes captured the NXT Championship after defeating Bron Breakker at the Stand & Deliver event over WrestleMania weekend back in April. Melo would hold the title until No Mercy in September, where he would be defeated by Ilja Dragunov.
Has Carmelo Hayes Wrestled On WWE Main Roster Before?
While this will be Hayes’ debut match on SmackDown, the former NXT Champion has previously wrestled on Raw. Back in June, Hayes would lose to Finn Balor on the Monday night show. With many fans feeling like Carmelo Hayes is a guaranteed star of the future, the NXT wrestler has recently stated why he isn’t yet a full-time member of the main roster.