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Carmelo Hayes Pays Tribute To WWE “Legend” After Title Match

By Monika Thapa • Published Jan 13, 2026 06:14 EST
Carmelo Hayes

Carmelo Hayes successfully defended his title on WWE SmackDown.

Hayes defeated Ilja Dragunov on the December 19, 2025, edition of Friday Night SmackDown at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to become the new WWE United States champion. He also defended his title multiple times during the WWE Live Holiday Tour 2025 against The Miz and Johnny Gargano.

His first title defense on television came on the January 9 edition of the blue brand show at Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany, against three-time United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. It was a US Title Open Challenge match.

Carmelo Hayes Beat Shinsuke Nakamura To Retain The United States Championship on WWE SmackDown

Both stars delivered a hard-hitting bout, which saw Carmelo walk out with his title as still the champion. Following the bout, the crowd at Uber Arena saw Melo and Nakamura shake hands, followed by Nakamura raising Melo’s hand as a sign of respect.

After his victory over the 45-year-old veteran, Carmelo Hayes logged on to his X (Twitter) account to pay a special tribute to his SmackDown opponent Nakamura. He posted a picture of both of them shaking hands on SmackDown and tweeted:

“Legend @ShinsukeN”

WrestleVotes recently reported that Hayes’s US title win had a very positive response backstage. People are happy and excited to see him as the US Champ.

“People like Carmelo. People are excited for him. There are many people backstage who see a world of potential in him. There’s a lot of hype and potential around Carmelo Hayes.,” WrestleVotes reported.

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