Give Him A Shot: Shawn Michaels Announces Former NXT Champion Will Compete On SmackDown

Cameo for the future? WWE has a very unique resource in NXT, which serves as WWE’s own in house developmental system. At the same time though, NXT airs on national television, allowing fans to get used to seeing NXT stars before they make the transition up to the main roster. You will occasionally see some wrestlers make brief main roster appearances though and that will be the case again next week.

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Earlier this week, WWE began a tournament to crown a new #1 contender to the United States Title. The brackets have been revealed, though one spot was filled by an unnamed NXT star. NXT executive Shawn Michaels has announced that former NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes will be filling the spot. Hayes will be acing Grayson Waller in the first round next week on SmackDown. There is nothing to indicate this is a full time promotion.

BREAKING: @ShawnMichaels has announced that the #WWENXT Superstar entering the #USTitle Tournament on #SmackDown is former @WWENXT Champion @Carmelo_WWE! pic.twitter.com/gqx4fX2GwR

— WWE (@WWE) December 11, 2023

This should be good. Check out the two of them in action:

Opinion: This is an interesting change of pace and I’m curious to see how Hayes does in the spot. Hayes has done just about everything that he can do in NXT at the moment and while I don’t think he will be called up with this match, he will at least get the chance to show what he can do on the big stage. That is a valuable chance and it would make sense to have Hayes on the show for a boosted up tryout.