Carmelo Hayes will look to begin a new era in NXT at Stand & Deliver, as he will face Bron Breakker for the NXT Championship. The two have been on a collision course for some time now, and today they will finally go one on one for the biggest prize in NXT. ComicBook.com’s Matt Aguilar had the chance to speak to Hayes all about Stand & Deliver, but during the conversation, the topic of Hayes and Ricochet’s epic moment from Worlds Collide also came up. Logan Paul and Ricochet delivered a similar moment at the Royal Rumble, and many NXT fans pointed to Hayes and Ricochet doing it first as a result, and we had to ask Hayes what he thought of the comparisons.
“Yeah, as far as the clip goes, I can’t blame Ricochet,” Hayes said. “It was different, but I can’t blame Ricochet for doing it with somebody like Logan Paul on that big stage. You know what I mean? The only issue I had with it was that it didn’t get the love and it didn’t get the respect that it deserved. And when we did it in NXT, and the one we did is more difficult. You can jump at somebody from across the ring easily. I could do that. You and I could do that. Just kidding. I’m just kidding.”
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“Nah, the real reason I’m saying I’m just kidding, I don’t want to take away from Logan Paul. That’s why I don’t want to clown on Logan Paul. Because he’s a super athlete. That’s not easy, but it’s more difficult to do a double crossbody. Regardless, good for them. I don’t even care anymore. I’m over that,” Hayes said.
Hayes and Ricochet’s match was one of the biggest highlights from Worlds Collide, and the match is made even more impressive when you consider that was their first time in the ring together. Hayes does want to get back in the ring with him too, and feels it will absolutely happen in the future.
“As far as Ricochet goes, it was a pleasure to work with Ricochet, man. I learned a lot working with Ricochet. Him and I are very similar in the ring and more similar than I realized. Our chemistry was great. We had only wrestled when we were in the ring that one time, so we were clicking on all cylinders, everything was on point,” Hayes said. “I felt really in there with him and he felt in there with me. It wasn’t a choreographed type of thing. It was a fight. We were battling each other and anything you can do, I can do better, and I’d love to get back in there with Ricochet, and I will get back in there with him. But yeah, it was a great experience working with him.”
While Ricochet is in the future, Hayes has his attention on the now, and the now is Bron Breakker at Stand & Deliver. Breakker has ruled NXT as Champion for quite some time, and Hayes is ready to turn the page on NXT’s next chapter and bring back some of that Black and Gold feel to the brand.
“Yeah, and that’s my goal as NXT Champion. I want to just usher in a new era of NXT. It’s wild because I’ll go back and I’ll watch some of the Black and Gold stuff and I’ll see those guys that were Champions before the NXT Champions, I’m like, ‘Man. Dude, that’s a freaking Champion. The Finn Balors, the Adam Coles, the Tommasos. Nothing against Bron Breakker at all, but there was a certain level of excellence that you had to be at to be the NXT Champion, and you were just head and shoulders above everybody else in every single aspect,” Hayes said.
“So I mean, that’s something that I want to bring back to NXT. And again, that’s not a knock at Bron Breakker. He had big shoes to fill with the short amount of experience he had, because I mean, all those former NXT Champions were world-traveled elite guys that were just killers in the ring,” Hayes said. “And so, like I said, not a knock to Bron, but I plan on restoring that type of feel to NXT, for sure.”
WWE NXT Stand & Deliver kicks off today at 12 PM CST on Peacock.
Who will become the next NXT Champion? Let us know in the comments or as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
