A WWE star has opened up on telling Shawn Michaels that they didn’t want to be a ‘205 Live guy’ after they signed with the company.
Carmelo Hayes made his WWE debut back in 2021, where he debuted on the NXT roster against Adam Cole before going on to win the Breakout Tournament.
Hayes would leave NXT in 2024 having been a two-time North American Champion and former NXT Champion, and he has now praised Shawn Michaels following his success on the brand.
Speaking to Beyond The Bell Podcast, Hayes recalled telling Shawn that he didn’t want to be 205 Live wrestler after his debut match was for the Cruiserweight Championship.
He said:
“Shawn’s the one that took a chance on me, he really did. I’ll never forget, the first time we had these little matches in front of the PC where I just got to WWE and I was still indie. Shawn, I never forget he was sitting there, it was the first time we performed in front of Shawn, and like I had never really even talked to him or nothing.
“He’s sitting there, he’s watching and I guess he says to somebody, ‘Oh we got a couple winners in here.’ Ok that’s a start right? So then he goes to Hunter and was like, ‘Hey you got to watch this kid,’ and Hunter, he knows who’s there but he had his black and gold guys. He’s not really thinking about these other guys coming in.
“But he put me in the match against KUSHIDA for the Cruiserweight Title for my debut, which is crazy. I had a little match, Shawn’s coming out and I hadn’t really talked to Shawn for real. He’s coming out of the bathroom and I bumped into him. I was getting ready to say bye and he’s like, ‘Oh, I just want to say good job, you have, it.’ Like he was so nice.
“I told him straight up, I said, ‘Look I don’t want to be one of these 205 Live guys.’ I said, ‘I want to be a main eventer here, I see myself like Adam Cole, I see myself like (Johnny) Gargano. You know I’m a smaller guy right? But I see myself like them.’ And he goes, ‘I see that for you too.’
“And I never forget when I won the NXT Title (he said), ‘This is what you asked for.’ I was like, ‘Oh s**t he remembered.’ That’s my guy, he put me on for real.”
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Hayes captured his first championship on the WWE main roster back on December 26, defeating Ilja Dragunov to win the United States Championship.
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