Carmelo Hayes has had a strong early run on the WWE main roster, and he spoke about making the transition from NXT to Smackdown in a new interview. Hayes spoke with Denise Salcedo for a new interview and spoke about coming to Smackdown, feeling supported by the brand’s roster and more. You can see highlights below (h/t to Wrestling Inc):
On coming up to the main roster: “It’s definitely been a learning experience. I had been talking about the fact of making that transition, especially coming in as a first round draft pick, where all eyes are on you. There’s really the most criticism I’ve ever faced in my whole career, but that’s okay, because at this time, like, that’s what you get when you get that first round draft pick label. If you want to be ‘him,’ you open up yourself to that type of criticism.”
On learning from his main roster opponents: “Really, it’s just kind of, like, that upping in my game to that to that next level ’cause there’s so many guys up there that I’ve got to work with, Cody and Randy and things like that, that have taught me that there are so many different levels to this game and there’s levels that I would have never known if I wasn’t in the ring with those guys.”
On his in-ring work being his biggest strength: “I think the in-ring is where I thrive. It’s been something that, since I got in NXT, I think Shawn had mentioned. He’s like, first thing he told me, he’s like, ‘I just want to get you in front of Hunter just so that Hunter can see what you can do.’ So, I think Hunter’s taking that same approach, where it’s like, ‘Hey, let’s put him in the ring with a guy who can match his, you know, match his style or you know have that type of style match.'”
On being supported on the main roster: “I think everybody’s … they’re very open to [helping]. It’s not so competitive as you would think, like, where it’s like, ‘This young kid’s coming to take my spot. A lot of them are, like, ‘No, we want to bring you [up], we want you to rise to the occasion so that way we have you know competition. Cody’s been, always since day one, Cody’s been the man. Randy’s been very cool to me, Punk has been very cool to me, Hunter obviously … mean everyone who you would expect, you know, even KO and stuff like that.”
