WOR Video: Carmelo Hayes vs. Finn Balor

Not the greatest momentum for Carmelo Hayes just one day prior to a big title match.

Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed Hayes’ appearance on Raw while going over the latter half of the show on Wrestling Observer Radio. Hayes first appeared on the show in the crowd, helping Seth Rollins ward off Finn Balor who attempted to take out Rollins with a chair. This led to a match later that night where Hayes was defeated clean by Balor, despite being the NXT Champion and having a title defense the following night against Baron Corbin.

“I was stunned, but I wasn’t stunned,” Alvarez said. “Right out of the Vince playbook. It happens every time.”

Although Finn Balor is going for the World Heavyweight Championship on Saturday, Alvarez noted that literally anybody else on the roster could have been used for the spot Hayes was put in. Meltzer thought it established the NXT Championship as a lesser title.

“All it did was tell everybody that [the NXT Championship] is a secondary title,” Meltzer said. “Carmelo Hayes is so far down the list that he’s like Gargano/Ciampa level…he was a plucky midcard to lowcard babyface and the NXT Champion should be a champion close to competitive with that.”