Carmelo Hayes was a recent guest on the “SHAK Wrestling” podcast and spoke about his time working on the WWE NXT brand, working with Trick Williams, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On his start in WWE NXT: “When I got to NXT, they did the same thing, they put me right up against Kushida for the Cruiserweight Championship immediately and then they put me against Adam Cole and then they put me through the Breakout tournament. So as long as I can remember I’ve been just put in these high-pressure situations and these sink or swim situations and, you know, I’ve just proven that every time that I’m a swimmer.”
On being paired with Trick Williams: “I had just won the Breakout tournament. They did have an influx of athletes at that time in our class. It was Bron [Breakker], it was Trick, it was Tony D’Angelo, it was a group of those guys — the Creed Brothers — and they were trying to get everyone on TV. I think it was Road Dogg [Brian James] who was just kind of like, ‘Hey, let’s put Trick as Melo’s heater.’”
Kelani Jordan was also a recent guest on the “Busted Open Radio” podcast to discuss what she’d like to improve on, her dream matches in WWE, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On what she’d like to improve on: “It would be promos and to live in the moment and acknowledge the crowd, whether it’s wresting or when I’m talking. That’s the biggest thing I want to work on. Listening.”
On being trained to ignore the crowd through her gymnastics background: “You’re always taught to tune them out because you don’t want any distractions. For all these years, I’ve been tuning everyone out. Yes, you can hear them, but you’re so laser-focused that you tune them out. You hear your teammates cheering, but you block everyone else out. It’s retraining my brain to do the opposite.”
On her dream match: “My dream match? Probably Bianca [Belair] or Charlotte.”
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