Earlier this weekend, Carmelo Hayes teamed with The Miz on Friday Night time SmackDown and picked up his first win on a flagship WWE present since April. That’s proper. He hasn’t received a match that wasn’t taped for the second tier Most important Occasion present since he received The Andre The Big Memorial Battle Royal throughout ‘Mania week. That’s virtually 4 months, however nonetheless, there’s purpose for optimism right here. Let’s have a Carmelo Hayes dialog.
Consideration WWE, Triple H, Bruce Prichard, Ed Koskey, Highway Dogg, everybody else within the writers room, now could be the time to push Carmelo Hayes, and The Miz is the right particular person to push him alongside. The group was very into Friday’s tag group match between these two and Fraxiom, and extra importantly, they actually popped for the end by which Hayes dominated however The Miz stole the glory on the final minute. There’s all of the potential for a superb program, and there’s each indication it should recover from if WWE offers it constant airtime.
Earlier than we get into how this could play out, let’s again up actual fast. Heading into WrestleMania season, it lastly felt prefer it was going to be Carmelo Hayes’ second. The NXT call-up was getting large singles matches in opposition to the likes of Cody Rhodes, Damian Priest and Braun Strowman, and whereas he was shedding, he was trying good and constructing a optimistic popularity with the gang. Then, we began getting backstage segments with The Miz, and it felt like we have been going to get a enjoyable mentor/ mentee program the place the veteran selfishly used the start-up to attempt to rebuild his personal profession.
Or perhaps their shaky friendship, which at first appeared poisonous, would flip right into a wholesome dynamic that might see them accomplish nice issues. That definitely appeared prefer it was on the desk when The Miz helped Hayes win The Andre The Big Memorial Battle Royal. Sadly, this system was seemingly cancelled earlier than it ever actually obtained off the bottom. The Miz unintentionally screwed Hayes over throughout a match a number of weeks later. Then, in actual life, he left WWE for a number of months to go movie the reboot of American Gladiators, which he’s internet hosting, and Hayes type of simply floundered with out him, typically going weeks with out showing on tv.
Effectively, The Miz is again. This program appears to be restarting, and everybody concerned ought to be stoked in regards to the crowd response. Sure, it helped a bit that SmackDown was in Hayes’ hometown of Boston, nevertheless it additionally helped that everybody performed their roles completely. The faces and little moments of character growth between The Miz and Hayes have been very properly executed, and the timing on the previous stealing the win from the ladder was good. Followers are prepared to observe this play out, and WWE has already marketed a match between the 2 and Motor Metropolis Machine Weapons subsequent week.
I can’t think about how exhausting it’s to be in WWE inventive. There are a ton of implausible performers who’re worthy of pushes, and there’s merely not sufficient tv time (particularly with SmackDown chopping again to 2 hours) to push all of them. For my part, nevertheless, the writers must find time for Carmelo Hayes. He’s among the finest in-ring performers on your complete roster, and whereas he hasn’t appeared as charismatic since getting the call-up from NXT, we all know that charisma is there. He’s able to a lot, which is why he’s already shared the ring with so many essential occasion guys, however for no matter purpose, nothing has actually popped but (other than that enjoyable greatest of seven mid-card sequence he did with Andrade).
The Miz is aware of what he’s doing, and he has an extended historical past of constructing these sudden partnerships work. There’s a purpose why he’s one of the crucial profitable tag group wrestlers ever and has had reigns with so many various folks. He is aware of the way to maximize his segments, and he is aware of the way to get the gang engaged in no matter he’s doing. You possibly can already really feel the gang vitality rising round this, and with Hayes’ in-ring expertise, there’s the potential for them to placed on terrific matches collectively each week.
I don’t know what the long-term play from the writers is right here. There’s a path the place Hayes rapidly will get pissed off with The Miz and activates him, resulting in a brief feud between the 2. That’s most likely the better approach, however I wish to see this play out over a for much longer time frame. Tag group companions turning on one another and feuding is at all times extra attention-grabbing once they’ve had lots of success collectively, and the 2 of them can add a extremely enjoyable new dynamic to SmackDown’s banger tag division, which doesn’t actually have a duo with their vitality.
So, right here’s my pitch. Let this cook dinner for awhile. Let Melo Don’t Miz begin stacking some wins, and allow them to take the tag group titles off The Wyatt Sicks. Allow them to construct some actual momentum. They don’t have to be collectively for 2 years. Sooner or later, everyone knows The Miz goes to betray Hayes or begin treating him poorly, they usually’ll have a feud to blow off all their animosity.
I am not saying Hayes has WrestleMania essential occasion potential like Bron Breakker, nevertheless it’s straightforward to think about a future by which he is a core a part of what WWE is doing. WWE must be extra proactive to assist him get there, and The Miz is the fitting man to pair him with. Step one is getting this tag group over. Then the following step is to make use of their inevitable feud to launch Hayes as a solo man. Let’s let these two go to work and get there.