The Wrestler Spotlight of the Week: The Current WWE United States Champion, Carmelo Hayes

WWE Superstar Carmelo Hayes, who is the current WWE United States Champion. (Image Courtesy of WWE)

Rarely do you see people in the wrestling business possess charisma, great in-ring ability, and swagger. But there’s one person who comes to my mind when you think about those things. That person is Christian Brigham, who is known as Carmelo Hayes to us in WWE. He’s the current WWE United States Champion. But if you really understand who he is, you can see why he’s H1M. He worked his ass off to get where he is today. At the Age of 31, he’s already heading into his prime days. But for the 2nd Edition of Wrestler’s Spotlight of the Week, we’ll be talking about the man who elevates SmackDown, Carmelo Hayes.

Born in Framingham, Massachusetts, Christian Brigham was always destined to be a star. He graduated from Framingham High School in 2012. Christian Brigham has always been a huge wrestling fan. After graduation, he started training for his professional career at New England Pro Wrestling Academy. He started his career in Chaotic Wrestling in April of 2014 under his first career ring name, Christian Casanova. Throughout the 2010s, he wrestled for several Indy Promotions like Power League Wrestling, Top Rope Promotions, and more. He started to build his name through the independents, as he even appeared on the Ring of Honor, as he defeated Jimmy Preston. By the time we hit the 2020s, Christian Casanova became a big name in the Indies as the final appearance he lost to Daniel Garcia, who works for AEW now, dropping his title to him. This was listed as his final match on the Independent Circuit, as on February 12th, 2021, he signed with WWE, being assigned to the Performance Center.

Carmelo Hayes made his debut in WWE as he entered an open challenge for the WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion, which was held by Kushida, but he seemingly lost. But this was a big sign for big things to come from Carmelo Hayes. His first big memorable moment, where he really introduced himself, he interrupted Adam Cole, as he cut a John Cena-esque promo stating “Ruthless Aggression: then slapped Adam Cole, which promoted a match. Carmelo Hayes lost again, but right there, you can see again the star talent he possessed, already stepping in the ring with one of the best wrestlers in the world at the time and holding his own. WWE had a Men’s NXT Breakout Tournament where he defeated Josh Briggs in the First Round, then proceeded to take down Duke Hudson in the semi-finals. With his first big achievement in WWE, he defeated Odyssey Jones in the Finals, winning himself a Contract for a Championship opportunity of his choosing. Once NXT rebranded to NXT 2.0, that’s where we saw more of the personality of Carmelo Hayes. He even introduced Trick Williams into the frame as they were heels and known as the Trick Melo Gang. Trick Williams was Carmelo Hayes' sidekick, doing his dirty work. Carmelo Hayes finally struck gold as on October 12th, 2021, he cashed in his NXT Breakout Tournament Contract as he defeated Iasiah Scott for the WWE NXT North American Title. This was the 1st Title Carmelo Hayes won in NXT, but he wasn’t finished as he defeated Roderick Strong in a couple of months to unify the titles to be the final WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion. In a year of being in the WWE, Carmelo Hayes made his name, becoming the 2nd Ever NXT Breakout Tournament Winner, WWE NXT North American Champion, and WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion.

2022 was when we saw Carmelo Hayes become bigger, and having the crowd fully behind him, even as a villainous character. Carmelo Hayes, throughout 2022, was one of the main pillars of NXT 2.0 as he was always featured in major programs, and we were building towards the eventual Bron Breakker and Carmelo Hayes feud that everyone expected. Carmelo Hayes in the year of 2022 had feuds with the likes of Apollo Crews, Cameron Grimes, Grayson Waller, and Ricochet. He continued to make a statement as he delivered big-time matches, and had growth in his promo ability, as his promo game at the time was at the top level. After an eventful 2022, this is where WWE gave Carmelo Hayes the ball coming into 2023. We saw Carmelo Hayes starting to shift more into a babyface role as WWE is positioning him to be the face of NXT. He entered into a feud with Bron Breakker as we built the WWE NXT Title feud for NXT’s biggest event in Stand & Deliver. Once we got to the event, we saw Carmelo Hayes' crowning moment as he defeated Bron Breakker in the Main Event of Stand & Deliver, as he became the WWE NXT Champion.

It was well worth it. Carmelo Hayes continues to ride his high wave, continuing to have great matches against the likes of Baron Corbin, Bron Breakker, Finn Bálor, Ilja Dragunov, and Norm Dar. But then Carmelo Hayes started to slip; he lost his title to Ilja Dragunov, who is considered Carmelo Hayes’s wrestling soulmate. With the emergence of his sidekick Trick Williams, who started to rise in popularity, Carmelo Hayes grew jealous and then turned heel against his so-called brother. What made this feud great is Carmelo Hayes, who is Main Roster bound, helping elevate Trick Williams, and to make it beautiful, he and Trick Williams were the first singles match with two black wrestlers to Main Event the biggest NXT show. Carmelo Hayes’ chapter to NXT closed as he had a remarkable career, being a 1x WWE NXT Champion, 2x WWE NXT North American Champion, 1x WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion, (2021) WWE NXT Breakout Tournament Winner, and 2x WWE Stand & Deliver Main Eventer.

Carmelo Hayes made an immediate impact on the Main Roster. He made some Main Roster appearances as he fought Finn Bálor on RAW, and made his Royal Rumble Debut. But Carmelo Hayes was the SmackDown 1st Pick in the 2024 WWE Draft. He started things off hot, as he faced the Undisputed WWE Champion at the time, Cody Rhodes, in a losing effort, but that was a great sign of good things to come. Carmelo Hayes got wins over the likes of Baron Corbin and Randy Orton, and he even made the Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match but came up short. He had an amazing rivalry with Andrade in the Summer of 2024, having spectacular matches, and even had a PLE Title Match as he faced LA Knight and Andrade for the WWE United States Title. He was everywhere as the cocky rookie heel, having matches against Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and Sami Zayn. 2024 was the soft launch for a great 2025 year, but this is where the adversity in Catmelo Hayes’ career started to hit. With the creative being inconsistent, Carmelo Hayes was in limbo without a proper direction. He was getting wins against Akira Tozawa and R-Truth, but he was looking like someone who was lost. He got paired with The Miz to create Melo Don’t Miz, but the reception online wasn’t happy, as a lot of people viewed Carmelo Hayes as a cornerstone piece to WWE; it seemed like they didn’t see that. Carmelo Hayes had some highs as he got his 1st Main Roster Achievement as he won the (2025) Andre the Giant Battle Royale. But there was no follow-up for the fact that he was eating pins, losing left and right, and being left off of shows. People grew frustrated, seemingly believing WWE was wasting a great talent in Carmelo Hayes.

But a shift started heading towards September, we saw Carmelo Hayes shifting to a babyface, and this is where we saw the blossom in Carmelo Hayes. He started chasing the WWE United States Title as he ditched The Miz and went after gold. He had a great match with Sami Zayn, but lost as he tried to capture the WWE United States Title. The beauty of all of this is seeing the fans start to rally behind Carmelo Hayes, as when the John Cena Final Match Tournament started, he defeated Bronson Reed of The Vision, and had a great match with Gunther, with the fans starting to grow more behind him. He started climbing the ranks as he was positioned as an Upper Card wrestler. Then December came, he had his crowning Main Roster moment as he faced Ilja Dragunov for the WWE United States Title, and he did it, he became the WWE United States Champion. He defined all the odds after having a rough 2025 year; he closed the year out on top. Now in 2026, Carmelo Hayes is one of the top stars and one of the faces of SmackDown.

What Carmelo Hayes displays is confidence, swagger, and never giving up when times get tough. He has displayed so much strength in overcoming the odds. Carmelo Hayes is one of my favorite talents to watch. He displays everything you need in a great wrestler. Carmelo Hayes is in the midst of his 1st WWE United States reign now. Things are getting started for his career. He has so much to give as he starts hitting his prime. We are really going to see the true Carmelo Hayes. I’m glad people have faith in him, as he has been one of the bright spots in WWE. There is a reason Melo never misses when he gets the ball; he just doesn’t miss.