Everyone has to start somewhere, even HIM. Carmelo Hayes is a breakout star on NXT with a WWE main roster call-up on the horizon, but his current character took a lot of work to find itself.
While speaking to SEScoops‘ Muscle Man Malcolm, Carmelo Hayes dove into his first-ever pro wrestling gimmick, and where it came from.
Melo had a Michael Jackson impersonator persona, and HIM recounted that gimmick as something he did to get his feet wet in the pro wrestling business. He eventually became Christian Casanova, a gimmick that was more true to who he really is.
“The Thriller of New England […] I remember my coach was like, ‘you need something, you need to be something,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t know,’ and he goes, ‘what do you like?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know, I like this, this, Michael Jackson,’ and I did a moonwalk or something, and he goes, ‘yeah, play into that.'”
“I was like, ‘alright I need an identity.’ So, I remember doing that kinda identity and I kinda got stuck in it for a year and some change, and finally I found myself and I broke out. But, it was really to get my feet wet. I used to tell people that all the time. Just to get my feet wet and get comfortable being a character and then after that, I became kinda more true to me.”
Carmelo Hayes was a MICHAEL JACKSON impersonator when he started in pro wrestling ??? pic.twitter.com/8hUjLws63e
— MuscleManMalcolm (@MalcolmMuscle) April 8, 2024
Melo also stated that he has his own barber shop now. He kicked Trick Williams out, and now a guard is stationed at the door to make sure he doesn’t come back. We will see the two collide at NXT Stand & Deliver.
Carmelo Hayes’ Main Roster Call-Up
WWE doesn’t want to rush anyone’s call-up to the main roster, especially someone with the potential that Carmelo Hayes has. He is certainly in line for a call-up, but he needs to get Stand & Deliver taken care of as well.
Hayes was selected by Shawn Michaels to represent NXT in SmackDown’s WWE United States Championship #1 Contender Tournament. In his debut match on SmackDown on December 15, he secured a victory over former rival Grayson Waller in the first round of the tournament. However, Hayes lost to Kevin Owens in the semifinals.
There are some within WWE who reportedly want to see Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams take their feud to the main roster. Those two, while they were outstanding partners, are even better enemies, and they will prove it on April 6 at the Wells Fargo Center.
NXT: Stand & Deliver starts at noon EST. You can check out the updated card below:
- Singles Match: Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes
- NXT Championship Match: Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Tony D’Angelo
- NXT Women’s Championship Match: Lyra Valkyria (c) vs. Roxanne Perez
- NXT North American Championship Match: Oba Femi (c) vs. Dijak vs. Josh Briggs
- NXT Tag Team Championship Match: Baron Corbin & Bron Breakker (c) vs. Axiom & Nathan Frazer
- Thea Hail, Fallon Henley & Kelani Jordan vs. Jacy Jayne, Kiana James & Izzi Dame
- Pre-Show Match: Shawn Spears vs. Joe Gacy