Carmelo Hayes says his match with Bron Breakker at NXT Stand & Deliver is right up there with other big-time matches fans will see WrestleMania weekend, including Roman Reigns’ bout with Cody Rhodes.
Speaking on Under the Ring, Hayes made it clear that he’s looking forward to having a high-profile match during WrestleMania weekend. He noted that there will be plenty major matches throughout the weekend, and he views his clash with Breakker as one of the top three. Hayes then stated that he expects people to talk about their match in the same respect as they’re talking about the WrestleMania main event between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns.
“Yeah, oh my god,” Hayes said. “That’s been my mindset going into this match from the jump, from immediately when it was announced. It was, ‘Hey, this is an opportunity to steal the weekend. Somebody had just asked me if I feel like being in WrestleMania’s shadow, with Stand & Deliver, but no, I don’t look at it at all [like that].
“You got a bunch of big-time matches happening that weekend, and I consider this one of the top three. I don’t that that lightly, I don’t take that pressure lightly. I expect people will be talking about this in the same respect as they’re talking about Cody and Roman by the end of WrestleMania weekend.”
Hayes also highlighted his journey to his clash with Breakker and emphasized that it wasn’t a straight shot to the top. Instead, he made it clear that he earned it. He then shared his belief that the match is a preview of WWE’s future, and he predicted that he will face Breakker at WrestleMania at some point.
“A lot of people will say, ‘You deserve it, you deserve it.’ The truth is, I earned it,” Hayes said. “I really did start from the bottom of NXT and work my way through every single rank to get to this point. [It took] 18 months to get to this points, and that 18 months was a lot of ups and a lot of downs for me. It wasn’t just a straight shot up to Bron Breakker, so I think fans, what they can expect is to see two guys who really, in the next five years, are gonna be the future of WWE.
“This is a match that [shows] a rivalry in its infancy, that will headline a WrestleMania one day. Next time we have this conversation, it’ll probably be a match on WrestleMania, as far as Bron Breakker versus Carmelo Hayes. The limits are just limitless between our feud and the things we can do.”
WrestleZone will have coverage of NXT Stand & Deliver as it airs on April 1.
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