Carmelo Hayes Retains WWE US Title With Ex-Partner’s Help On SmackDown
The WWE United States Championship was on the line tonight as Carmelo Hayes continued the tradition brought back by Sami Zayn a few weeks ago when he held the title.
After taking the belt from Solo Sikoa, Sami Zayn brought back the US Title Open Challenge, initially popularized by John Cena a little over a decade ago. The tradition has been continued by the champions since.
Zayn was defeated by Ilja Dragunov, who lost the title to Carmelo Hayes on the final SmackDown of 2025. Both of them continued the open challenge, and Melo put the belt on the line tonight.
Carmelo Hayes retains the WWE United States Title
Both Dragunov and Hayes have mutual respect for each other that they gained over their challenges for the WWE United States Championship. Following Dragunov’s loss to Sami Zayn last week, Melo offered a title challenge to Dragunov tonight.
The Mad Dragon accepted the challenge as he tried to take his championship back from Melo. The match was off to a quick start, which saw both wrestlers compete in a hard-hitting affair.
Both men had moments where they dominated in the match, and they both came close to winning on multiple occasions as they were pushed to their limit.
OH COME ON MIZ 😩@mikethemiz just cost Dragunov the match and @Carmelo_WWE retains! pic.twitter.com/aEpj5wmqRJ
— WWE (@WWE) January 24, 2026
Dragunov was heading towards the win after he’d taken Carmelo Hayes out and headed to the top rope for a Super H-bomb, but he was pushed off the top by the Miz. Melo, unaware of Miz’s actions, hit Ilja with a First 48 after he was pushed and secured the win.
The champ was, however, livid when he saw what transpired on the titantron. Their match ended similarly to how Dragunov’s first defense against Hayes ended, likely hinting at another clash between the two in the future.
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