NXT: Carmelo Hayes Retains North American Championship at Worlds Collide

Ricochet surprised WWE and NXT fans around the world when he appeared recently on NXT 2.0. Several WWE stars shows up on NXT 2.0 ahead of Sunday's Worlds Collide event, but Ricochet was one of the only ones to challenge for a championship on the show. He returned to challenge Carmelo Hayes for the NXT North American Championship, setting up one of the most anticipated matches on the World's Collide card.

The back-and-forth match could've gone either way, but it was Carmelo Hayes that won and retained his North American Championship. A lot of the win can be attributed to the presence of Trick Williams, Hayes' loyal sidekick. Williams tried to interfere in the match and was stopped by Ricochet. However, that bought Hayes enough time to realize what Ricochet was doing. 

As Ricochet climbed to the top roped to hit a Shooting Star, Hayes gained his composure and avoided the attack. As soon as that happened, Hayes rolled Ricochet up into a tight pin and the referee counted to three. It was a sudden and surprising ending, allowing Carmelo Hayes to continue his run as North American Champion. It also frees Ricochet up to continue his work on SmackDown.

Ricochet became a superstar in WWE thanks to his time in NXT a few years ago. He won the NXT North American Championship by defeating Adam Cole, though he ultimately lost the title to Johnny Gargano a few months later. Ricochet was last seen in NXT back in 2019, before being called up to the WWE main roster.

Ricochet and Carmelo Hayes are two incredibly gifted athletes, so fans expected the two of them to put on a ridiculous show, and that's exactly what they did. There were several high-flying, hard-hitting spots throughout the match, including one where they each leapt from the ropes on opposite sides of the ring and colliding in the middle.

What did you think of Carmelo Hayes and Ricochet's match at NXT Worlds Collide? Let us know in the comments!