WWE NXT Superstar Carmelo Hayes recently spoke with Fightful Select to promote NXT Deadline. The following are some highlights from the interview:
* Hayes is looking forward to the first-ever Iron Survivor Challenge match at Deadline and believes he has the rules down pat. He enjoys being trusted with the challenges and tasks that WWE assigns to him.
* He was initially excited to work on the black and gold NXT brand because everyone there was primarily accomplished wrestlers, but he believes NXT 2.0 helped him grow a lot as an all-around performer.
* The ultimate compliment, according to Hayes, is recent praise from WWE Hall of Famer & Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels. He mentioned how Michaels has to rein him in on different things at times, and how he is a “do as I say, not as I did” type of teacher because Michaels made a career out of defying authority. He stated that some of the things Michaels restrains him on are usually cultural issues that Hayes must explain to him due to the generation gap. Michaels, in particular, used to get things through on TV that he probably shouldn’t have during WWE’s DX days, and he’s well aware that younger talent will try to do the same with him.
* He was unconcerned about having to hand over the NXT North American Title to Solo Sikoa in September, or about Sikoa relinquishing the title, because he claimed it was completely out of his hands.
* Hayes was overjoyed when he received the call to face Cedric Alexander on WWE Main Event on October 13. He didn’t think it was a sign of a main roster call-up because he knows he has more to prove, but he did think it was a small reward for his efforts.
Hayes will face Axiom, JD McDonagh, Joe Gacy, and Graywall in the inaugural Men’s Iron Survivor Challenge match at NXT Deadline this Saturday.
