Carmelo Hayes discusses how he wants to incorporate pop culture into his gimmick.
During a recent appearance on WWE After The Bell, NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes described what influences him and how he tries to bring that into his presentation in WWE.
“It’s sports, it’s music, it’s everything pop culture, it’s everything culture,” Hayes said. “Like I said earlier about looking at the landscape of WWE, NXT, I was like, ‘What’s missing?’ You know what’s missing is modern day, you know, what’s hot today. Shawn [Michaels] and I go back and forth a lot sometimes because, respectfully, he doesn’t know a lot of things about today’s [culture].
“He was cool as hell in the ’90s when the Attitude Era was cool and everybody had that angst. But today, there’s so many little things that he’s probably like, ‘I don’t know what these kids are doing.’ But I do, so that’s what I wanted to bring to TV. That’s what I wanted to bring to the Carmelo Hayes character just to give a different flavor to what we know as pro wrestling.”
When it comes to pitching his ideas to WWE Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels, Hayes joked that he asks for permission and then asks for forgiveness anyway.
“With Shawn, him and I have that relationship where I’m like, ‘Hey, Shawn, I think it would be cool if I say,’ and he’s more or less like, ‘Is it going to benefit what you’re trying to do? Or do you want to just say it to say it or do it to do it?’ That’s the one thing that I’ve learned as I’m maturing here is there’s a lot of things I want to say… but then I realize if it’s not furthering our story, it’s not going to further our mission, and I gotta look at NXT as a whole and the brand and the TV show and sponsors. I don’t want to ever represent the brand in a negative way because I want to say something that’s a little edgy. So I’ve learned to pick my fights. “
Hayes added that he knows he can be a pain, but Michaels also knows how passionate he is.
At NXT Battleground, Hayes will defend the NXT Championship against Bron Breakker.
RELATED: Carmelo Hayes Explains Why He Has A Close Bond With Shawn Michaels
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit WWE After The Bell with a h/t to WrestleZone for the transcription.
