Carmelo Hayes: I Told Shawn Michaels I'm In WWE To Become A Top Guy

Carmelo Hayes has revealed details of a conversation with Shawn Michaels at the start of his WWE NXT career, telling the WWE Hall Of Famer he sees himself becoming a 'top guy' in the company.

Hayes has reportedly been working closely with Michaels since his debut in NXT over the summer months, with the 27-year-old winning the 2021 Breakout Tournament and the NXT North American Championship last week.

Hayes has now opened up on earning a chance to make a name for himself in NXT 2.0, revealing how he convinced the Heartbreak Kid to give him the ball.

Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Hayes said: "When I signed to WWE, I had the mindset of, 'whatever comes, I'm going to make the most of it and take it.' I had a conversation early on with Shawn about how I wanted to be a top guy eventually. He was like, 'Alright, we'll give you the ball and you can run with it and we'll get you to where we need to get you.'"

Going into more detail about the conversation with Michaels, Hayes added: "The conversation happened where I explained to him...this was back in June with a lot of things going on with 205 Live and I really didn't want to be a 205 Live guy, especially being smaller, just because I saw more for myself. Not saying anything is wrong with 205 Live, I just didn't want to get pitched into that category.

"I spoke up and I truly believe that if you speak up, closed mouths don't get fed. I spoke up the first opportunity I had and said, 'Shawn, I see myself becoming a top guy. Help take me there.' I think that gave him like the, 'Okay, this kid is a little different.' On top of that, my mindset is every time I go out, it's WrestleMania, no matter what.

"I'm not just happy to be here. I truly want to be great. Through my work, actions, attitude, training at the PC and gym, I'm just working hard and I want to work harder than anybody else."

H/T Fightful