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Carmelo Hayes
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Carmelo Hayes
Christian Brigham (born August 1, 1994) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Carmelo Hayes. He is a former one-time NXT Champion, a two-time and record-tying longest combined reigning NXT North American Champion, a one-time and the final NXT Cruiserweight Champion (having unified it with the NXT North American Championship), and the 2025 André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner.
Prior to signing with WWE, Brigham wrestled on the independent circuit, primarily in the New England region under the ring name Christian Casanova.
On April 12, 2014, Brigham made his professional wrestling debut for independent promotion Chaotic Wrestling under the ring name "Christian Casanova", losing to Mikey Webb. For the next few years, he worked for various promotions including Northeast Championship Wrestling and Beyond Wrestling. On March 17, 2016, Casanova won the Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship. On March 29, 2019, he won the Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship for the first time, and on August 30, won it a second time, thus making him the Twelfth Triple Crown Champion in Chaotic Wrestling. He also wrestled for Limitless Wrestling, where he defeated CJ Cruz to win the Vacationland Cup on December 19, 2020.
On February 12, 2021, Brigham signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center. He made his in-ring debut as a face on the June 1 episode of NXT under the name "Carmelo Hayes", accepting Kushida's open challenge for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, but lost. He would then take part in the NXT Breakout Tournament where he defeated Josh Briggs in the first round, Duke Hudson in the semifinals, and won the tournament by defeating Odyssey Jones in the finals and earned a contract for a championship opportunity for a title of his choosing.
Following the tournament, he introduced the debuting Trick Williams as his friend during an in-ring promo, and afterwards, would assist Williams in attacking Duke Hudson as he entered the ring, establishing both men as heels and starting an alliance known as the "Trick Melo Gang". On the October 12 episode of NXT, Hayes defeated Isaiah "Swerve" Scott to win the NXT North American Championship after cashing in his Breakout Tournament contract following the latter's title defense against Santos Escobar. He made his first successful title defense on the November 23 episode of NXT against Johnny Gargano and Pete Dunne. At NXT WarGames on December 5, Hayes teamed with Bron Breakker, Grayson Waller and Tony D'Angelo (as "Team 2.0") to defeat Gargano, LA Knight, Pete Dunne and Tommaso Ciampa ("Team Black & Gold") in a WarGames match. At NXT: New Year's Evil on January 4, 2022, Hayes defeated NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong to unify the North American Championship and the Cruiserweight Championship. Hayes was recognized as the final Cruiserweight Champion, which was then retired, and continued as North American Champion.
On February 15, he successfully defended the title against Cameron Grimes at NXT: Vengeance Day. At NXT Stand & Deliver on April 2, Hayes lost the title to Grimes in a five-way ladder match, ending his reign at 172 days. Hayes failed to regain the title in a triple threat match involving Solo Sikoa at Spring Breakin' on May 3, but won it back from Grimes at NXT In Your House on June 4. He successfully defended the title against Grayson Waller on July 5 at NXT: The Great American Bash, Giovanni Vinci on August 16 at NXT: Heatwave, and Ricochet on September 4 at Worlds Collide. On the September 13 episode of NXT, Hayes lost the championship to Sikoa, ending his second reign at 101 days. On October 11, Hayes made his main roster debut on Main Event, defeating Cedric Alexander. He failed to regain the North American Championship in a ladder match at NXT Halloween Havoc on October 22, and against new champion Wes Lee on the November 22 episode of NXT. Hayes then competed in the inaugural Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline on December 10, which was won by Waller.
At NXT Vengeance Day on February 4, Hayes defeated Apollo Crews in a two out of three falls match. Later that night, Hayes and Williams confronted NXT Champion Bron Breakker following the main event. On April 1, 2023, Hayes defeated Breakker in the main event of NXT Stand & Deliver to win the NXT Championship. Three nights later on NXT, Hayes turned face after Breakker, enraged over having lost the title, turned heel by attacking Hayes. At NXT Battleground on May 28, Hayes successfully defended the title against Breakker. On the May 30 episode of NXT, Hayes successfully defended the NXT Championship against Noam Dar, after which, he was attacked by Baron Corbin. Hayes wrestled his Raw debut match on June 26, where he lost to Finn Bálor in a non-title match. The following night at NXT: Gold Rush, Hayes retained the NXT Championship against Corbin. At NXT The Great American Bash on July 30, he successfully defended the title against Ilja Dragunov. On the following episode of NXT, Williams told Hayes that he needed to leave and shine on his own, amicably separating the Trick Melo Gang. At NXT No Mercy on September 30, Hayes lost the NXT Championship to Dragunov in a rematch, ending his reign at 182 days.
On the October 17 episode of NXT, Trick Williams was slotted into the triple threat match between Hayes, Dijak and Corbin to make it a fatal four-way match for an NXT Championship opportunity against Dragunov at NXT: Halloween Havoc, causing a rift between Hayes and Williams. Before the match, Williams was found attacked backstage and had to be taken to a hospital. Hayes then defeated Dijak and Corbin for the opportunity. On Night 2 of NXT: Halloween Havoc, Hayes failed to regain the title from Dragunov after being distracted by the returning Williams. On the November 21 episode of NXT, Hayes lost an Iron Survivor Challenge qualifying match after interference from Lexis King, who Hayes accused for the backstage attack on Williams. At NXT Deadline on December 9, Hayes defeated King, who subsequently denied attacking Williams. The next day, Hayes was chosen by Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels to represent NXT in the United States Championship #1 Contender Tournament on SmackDown, defeating Grayson Waller in the first round, but lost to Kevin Owens in the semifinals. On January 27, 2024, at Royal Rumble, Hayes made his Royal Rumble match debut as the fifth entrant, eliminating Waller but was eliminated by Finn Bálor.
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Carmelo Hayes
Christian Brigham (born August 1, 1994) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Carmelo Hayes. He is a former one-time NXT Champion, a two-time and record-tying longest combined reigning NXT North American Champion, a one-time and the final NXT Cruiserweight Champion (having unified it with the NXT North American Championship), and the 2025 André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal winner.
Prior to signing with WWE, Brigham wrestled on the independent circuit, primarily in the New England region under the ring name Christian Casanova.
On April 12, 2014, Brigham made his professional wrestling debut for independent promotion Chaotic Wrestling under the ring name "Christian Casanova", losing to Mikey Webb. For the next few years, he worked for various promotions including Northeast Championship Wrestling and Beyond Wrestling. On March 17, 2016, Casanova won the Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship. On March 29, 2019, he won the Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship for the first time, and on August 30, won it a second time, thus making him the Twelfth Triple Crown Champion in Chaotic Wrestling. He also wrestled for Limitless Wrestling, where he defeated CJ Cruz to win the Vacationland Cup on December 19, 2020.
On February 12, 2021, Brigham signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center. He made his in-ring debut as a face on the June 1 episode of NXT under the name "Carmelo Hayes", accepting Kushida's open challenge for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, but lost. He would then take part in the NXT Breakout Tournament where he defeated Josh Briggs in the first round, Duke Hudson in the semifinals, and won the tournament by defeating Odyssey Jones in the finals and earned a contract for a championship opportunity for a title of his choosing.
Following the tournament, he introduced the debuting Trick Williams as his friend during an in-ring promo, and afterwards, would assist Williams in attacking Duke Hudson as he entered the ring, establishing both men as heels and starting an alliance known as the "Trick Melo Gang". On the October 12 episode of NXT, Hayes defeated Isaiah "Swerve" Scott to win the NXT North American Championship after cashing in his Breakout Tournament contract following the latter's title defense against Santos Escobar. He made his first successful title defense on the November 23 episode of NXT against Johnny Gargano and Pete Dunne. At NXT WarGames on December 5, Hayes teamed with Bron Breakker, Grayson Waller and Tony D'Angelo (as "Team 2.0") to defeat Gargano, LA Knight, Pete Dunne and Tommaso Ciampa ("Team Black & Gold") in a WarGames match. At NXT: New Year's Evil on January 4, 2022, Hayes defeated NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong to unify the North American Championship and the Cruiserweight Championship. Hayes was recognized as the final Cruiserweight Champion, which was then retired, and continued as North American Champion.
On February 15, he successfully defended the title against Cameron Grimes at NXT: Vengeance Day. At NXT Stand & Deliver on April 2, Hayes lost the title to Grimes in a five-way ladder match, ending his reign at 172 days. Hayes failed to regain the title in a triple threat match involving Solo Sikoa at Spring Breakin' on May 3, but won it back from Grimes at NXT In Your House on June 4. He successfully defended the title against Grayson Waller on July 5 at NXT: The Great American Bash, Giovanni Vinci on August 16 at NXT: Heatwave, and Ricochet on September 4 at Worlds Collide. On the September 13 episode of NXT, Hayes lost the championship to Sikoa, ending his second reign at 101 days. On October 11, Hayes made his main roster debut on Main Event, defeating Cedric Alexander. He failed to regain the North American Championship in a ladder match at NXT Halloween Havoc on October 22, and against new champion Wes Lee on the November 22 episode of NXT. Hayes then competed in the inaugural Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline on December 10, which was won by Waller.
At NXT Vengeance Day on February 4, Hayes defeated Apollo Crews in a two out of three falls match. Later that night, Hayes and Williams confronted NXT Champion Bron Breakker following the main event. On April 1, 2023, Hayes defeated Breakker in the main event of NXT Stand & Deliver to win the NXT Championship. Three nights later on NXT, Hayes turned face after Breakker, enraged over having lost the title, turned heel by attacking Hayes. At NXT Battleground on May 28, Hayes successfully defended the title against Breakker. On the May 30 episode of NXT, Hayes successfully defended the NXT Championship against Noam Dar, after which, he was attacked by Baron Corbin. Hayes wrestled his Raw debut match on June 26, where he lost to Finn Bálor in a non-title match. The following night at NXT: Gold Rush, Hayes retained the NXT Championship against Corbin. At NXT The Great American Bash on July 30, he successfully defended the title against Ilja Dragunov. On the following episode of NXT, Williams told Hayes that he needed to leave and shine on his own, amicably separating the Trick Melo Gang. At NXT No Mercy on September 30, Hayes lost the NXT Championship to Dragunov in a rematch, ending his reign at 182 days.
On the October 17 episode of NXT, Trick Williams was slotted into the triple threat match between Hayes, Dijak and Corbin to make it a fatal four-way match for an NXT Championship opportunity against Dragunov at NXT: Halloween Havoc, causing a rift between Hayes and Williams. Before the match, Williams was found attacked backstage and had to be taken to a hospital. Hayes then defeated Dijak and Corbin for the opportunity. On Night 2 of NXT: Halloween Havoc, Hayes failed to regain the title from Dragunov after being distracted by the returning Williams. On the November 21 episode of NXT, Hayes lost an Iron Survivor Challenge qualifying match after interference from Lexis King, who Hayes accused for the backstage attack on Williams. At NXT Deadline on December 9, Hayes defeated King, who subsequently denied attacking Williams. The next day, Hayes was chosen by Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels to represent NXT in the United States Championship #1 Contender Tournament on SmackDown, defeating Grayson Waller in the first round, but lost to Kevin Owens in the semifinals. On January 27, 2024, at Royal Rumble, Hayes made his Royal Rumble match debut as the fifth entrant, eliminating Waller but was eliminated by Finn Bálor.
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