New WWE Champion Crowned On The Final SmackDown Of The Year

WWE has generally featured long championship runs for its champions ever since Triple H took control of creative. Gunther became the longest-reigning Intercontinental Champion under The Game’s creative leadership.

Not just the Ring General, Sami Zayn, held the title for almost four months after beating him, and the current champion, Dominik Mysterio, held the title for over 200 days before dropping it to John Cena for a short while.

However, the trend has shifted a bit when it comes to the WWE United States Championship. With Sami Zayn introducing the US title open challenge, the title had already changed hands once before, and it happened tonight again.

Carmelo Hayes is the new WWE United States Champion

Carmelo Hayes had been heavily featured on SmackDown over the last few weeks and delivered great performances every time he appeared on screen. He almost won the title a couple of weeks back, only for Tommaso Ciampa to cost him the opportunity.

After taking care of DIY during last week’s episode, Ilja Dragunov gave Hayes a shot at the title once again, as he wasn’t happy with how their previous match ended, and this time Hayes achieved what he failed to do the last time he challenged the Mad Dragon.

The two put on a hugely entertaining match, featuring several nearfalls from either wrestler. It eventually came to an end as Melo caught Dragunov with a first 48, before following it up with Nothing But Net for the pin, getting his hands on his first title on the main roster.

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