WWE, please don’t book Carmelo Hayes as a cowardly champion

With less than two weeks left before the reshuffled rosters are officially set for the next year, WWE had a problem. To be clear, the company made the right decision moving popular NXT group Hit Row to SmackDown, but there was still a loose end in the shape of Isaiah “Swerve” Scott’s NXT North American Champion. Luckily, WWE had a way out: Carmelo Hayes.

After Scott retained his title over Legado Del Fantasma leader Santos Escobar on this past Tuesday’s episode of NXT 2.0, Hayes — who, along with Trick Williams, fended off LDF members Joaquin Wilde and Raúl Mendoza to help Scott keep the gold — attacked him and used his guaranteed title shot contract he earned through winning the Breakout Tournament to challenge for the title right away.

If you’re familiar with Money in the Bank, you know what happened next:

While you can criticize WWE for twisting the terms of that contract to fashion a Get Out of Jail Free card for themselves or using a MitB-style angle after booking two cash-ins with the actual MitB briefcases over the last two months (or how silly it is that Hayes didn’t use the same tactic to win the NXT Championship), the promotion deserves some credit for finding a way to keep the North American Title in NXT while protecting Scott and putting over Hayes’ new heel persona.

That said, WWE now needs to get right to building Hayes as a credible champion. It can go a number of directions to achieve this, but there’s one thing it should avoid.

Given how Carmelo Hayes won the NXT North American Championship, WWE should avoid booking him as a cowardly champion.

Considering how this match with Scott went and how WWE has presented Hayes and Williams as a pair so far, it isn’t hard to envision a scenario in which Hayes struggles to defend his title without overt interference from Williams.

But when you factor in the cheap win and how little Scott defended the title before losing it (Scott only had two defenses to his name, and both came on Tuesday’s NXT 2.0), booking Hayes as a soft champion who constantly needs help won’t do him, the title, nor the person who ultimately beats him for the title any favors.

Hopefully, WWE will book Hayes — whose heel schtick has clicked despite WWE turning him in front of fans who clearly wanted to cheer him — as a champion who can hold his own when the bell rings and only resorts to cheating or interference when facing a babyface who can match him move for move.

Recent history has shown that the company can script its heels in this way to great effect (Roman Reigns, Charlotte Flair), and Hayes is more than capable of thriving in the same role. But whether he gets the chance to show it will depend on whether WWE uses this reign to get him over or his bigger and taller heater.

Now, projecting how a title reign could go before said reign is even a week old is often a foolish exercise. After all, Hayes could very well have a long title reign filled with great matches. Everyone who recognizes his obvious talents in the ring and on the microphone hopes that happens.

Let’s just hope “everyone” includes WWE.