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Carmelo Hayes Says He Learned In WWE NXT That The Moves Don’t Matter

October 20, 2021 | Posted by Joseph Lee
WWE NXT Carmelo Hayes Image Credit: WWE/Twitter

In an interview with Daily DDT, Carmelo Hayes spoke about getting signed to WWE NXT and learning that the moves don’t matter during his time there. Here are highlights:

On not being ready for NXT until now: “People say, ‘You should have been signed this time or that time.’ You know what? If I was signed, I wouldn’t have been prepared mentally, emotionally, physically. There’s so much more that comes with being ready to be here. A lot had to happen for me to be prepared to come here. Even a year ago today, I remember my mindset was, ‘Just work your ass off and get signed.’ There really was no opportunity yet.”

On making the decision to sign and considering other options: “It was around December I had an interview with Canyon Ceman, a phone interview, and from there on they mentioned they’d probably bring me in after WrestleMania. I said to him, ‘Hey, if you can get me in sooner, can you please get me in as soon as possible?’ He told me, ‘We have a class of 20 people coming in, so we don’t know if we can get you in this round.’ They hustled and got me in with that February class. Everything happened really quick. I feel like everything does happen for a reason and timing is everything because it could have been a bad time a year ago. It might not have been who I am today or who I was in February.

I didn’t think I’d get here this round. I thought I’d have to go somewhere else and then from there get here because everybody knows WWE is kind of like the land from far, far away. It’s that tip of the iceberg in that way. You don’t just take one step and pop up in there. You look at the guys that are in NXT now. They’ve come from other companies, years from experience on TV here or there. I thought that would be my route, so I was totally okay [doing that]. But then I had a change of heart and thought, ‘You know what? I’m going top two and it’s either WWE or somewhere else. Those are my two that I’m going for. That’s all it’s going to be and I’m going to get there somehow, some way.’ I had both opportunities right around the same time and I chose WWE and to come here.”

On what he’s learned in NXT: “I just learned that the moves don’t matter. The in-ring stuff is not nearly as important as the facials and the little things and that’s something I learned straight from Hunter, the storytelling your face can do that 10 moves can’t do. One facial expression can tell more of a story that you can with 10 high spots, super indie, double kick-outs and that whole thing. Every day I’m learning. I’m not the same person I was even two weeks ago. All these coaches here are amazing. I needed this.”

article topics :

Carmelo Hayes, WWE, Joseph Lee