WWE‘s Ruthless Aggression era inspired Carmelo Hayes to become a professional wrestler.
Former NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes was recently a guest on The Black Announce Table to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about what inspired him to become a professional wrestler, Hayes credited multiple names from the Ruthless Aggression era of WWE for inspiring him to get into the business.
“Yeah. I mean, it was a lot of the guys that looked like me,” Carmelo Hayes admitted. “I mean, it was like, Rock, like Booker. But I loved Eddie [Guerrero]. I didn’t really see Shawn [Michaels] until he came back a second time. So Shawn was cool too. I really liked Edge. I mean, I wasn’t really a big Cena head, but [John] Cena’s cool, that whole era was I mean, [Rey] Mysterio was cool. Like that whole era was kind of what inspired me I think, that Ruthless Aggression era.”
When asked if there was anyone in particular, he modeled his wrestling style after, Hayes said he likes to think of himself as a hybrid but named people like Eddie Gurrero and Shawn Michaels as people who he took ideas from and made them his own.
“I don’t want to say I modeled my style after anybody now,” Carmelo Hayes said. “I feel like I’m more of a hybrid people will compare me to people, which I think is natural for people to do. But me personally, I’m not watching anybody saying I need to be more like him. I need to be like that. It’s more like how can I take things that I like from them and then make it my own?
“So I mean I guess I could go as far as say guys like Eddie, guys like Shawn, you know what I mean? That like I said, that whole group man, that core group, were just studs man coming up, but I just remember their shit was so believable. The stuff was good and exciting too. But yeah, now I’m at that point where I’m like, how can I make this all me? I want people to be like, Hey, I’m trying to wrestle like Carmelo Hayes.”
Hayes will aim to regain the NXT North American Championship at WWE NXT In Your House on June 4.
READ MORE: NXT In Your House Set For June 4, Pair Of Matches Made Official
What do you make of Carmelo Hayes’ comments? Are you enjoying his work on WWE NXT 2.0? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
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