- Source: 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 longest combined reigning NXT North American Champion, and a one-time and the final NXT Cruiserweight Champion, having unified it with the NXT North American Championship.
Prior to signing with WWE, Brigham wrestled on the independent circuit, primarily in the New England region under the ring name Christian Casanova.
Professional wrestling career
= Independent circuit (2014–2021)
=On April 12, 2014, Brigham made his professional wrestling debut for independent promotion Chaotic Wrestling, 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, Brigham won the Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship. On March 29, 2019, Casanova 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.
= WWE (2021–present)
=NXT debut and championship reigns (2021–2023)
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. After Hayes won the 2021 NXT Breakout Tournament when he defeated Odyssey Jones in the finals and earned a contract for a championship opportunity for a title of his choosing, he defeated Isaiah "Swerve" Scott to win the NXT North American Championship. 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 faking a show of respect and 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.
Feud with Trick Williams (2023–2024)
On the October 17 episode of NXT, 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. During this time, Hayes and Williams competed in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, losing to Corbin and Breakker in the finals at NXT Vengeance Day on February 4. Later that night, after Williams failed to win the NXT Championship from Dragunov, Hayes attacked Williams with a steel chair, ending their partnership and turning heel in the process. On the following episode of NXT, Hayes revealed that he attacked Williams back in October 2023 as he felt Williams was trying to steal his spotlight. At NXT: Roadblock on March 5, Hayes lost to Tony D'Angelo in a match to determine the #1 contender to the NXT Championship at NXT Stand & Deliver after being distracted by Williams' entrance music. After the match, Hayes was attacked by the returning Williams. The following week on NXT, Williams challenged Hayes to a match at NXT Stand & Deliver, which Shawn Michaels announced would be the main event, making Hayes and Williams the first two black men to main event NXT Stand & Deliver and an NXT premium live event, and the first two black men to main event a WWE premium live event since The Rock and Booker T at SummerSlam in 2001. At NXT Stand & Deliver on April 6, Hayes lost to Williams. In a rematch on the April 16 episode of NXT, Hayes lost to Williams in a steel cage match despite assistance from his security team, ending their feud in his final match for NXT.
SmackDown (2024–present)
At Night 1 of the WWE Draft on the April 26 episode of SmackDown, Hayes was promoted to the SmackDown brand as the third overall draft pick. He then challenged Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to a match as his first opponent as a main roster wrestler, which he lost. Hayes participated in the King of the Ring tournamentand the Money in the Bank ladder match, but didn't win neither. After Money in the Bank, Hayes began a feud with Andrade. By the end of September, Hayes and Andrade won three matches each against each other. On the October 25 episode of SmackDown, Hayes and Andrade's game seven match, which was also for a United States Championship opportunity, ended in a no contest after special guest referee Knight attacked both men, ending their best-of-seven series match at three wins, three losses and one draw each. At Crown Jewel on November 2, Hayes failed to win the title in a triple threat match also involving Andrade after Knight pinned Hayes.
Other media
Brigham, as Carmelo Hayes, made his video game debut in WWE 2K23, and later appeared in WWE 2K24.
Personal life
Brigham is currently in a relationship with fellow professional wrestler Lea Mitchell, professionally known as Kelani Jordan.
Championships and accomplishments
Beyond Wrestling
Pride of New England Tournament for Tomorrow (2019)
Chaotic Wrestling
Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship (1 time)
Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tripilicious
Twelfth Triple Crown Champion
ESPN
Ranked No. 7 of the 30 best Pro Wrestlers Under 30 in 2023
Liberty States Pro Wrestling
Liberty States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Limitless Wrestling
Limitless Wrestling World Championship (1 time)
Vacationland Cup (2020)
Lucky Pro Wrestling
LPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Elia Markopoulos
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Ranked No. 13 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2023
Northeast Championship Wrestling
NCW New England Championship (1 time)
Northeast Wrestling
NEW Live Championship (1 time)
WWE
NXT Championship (1 time)
NXT North American Championship (2 times)
NXT Cruiserweight Championship (1 time, final)
NXT Breakout Tournament (2021)
NXT Year-End Award
Match of the Year (2023) vs. Ilja Dragunov at NXT No Mercy
References
External links
Carmelo Hayes on WWE.com
Carmelo Hayes on Twitter
Carmelo Hayes's profile at Cagematch.net, Wrestlingdata.com, Internet Wrestling Database
Christian Casanova at IMDb
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Brock Lesnar
- The Undertaker
- Triple H
- Dwayne Johnson
- WWE
- Rey Mysterio
- Vince McMahon
- WWE SmackDown
- Solo Sikoa
- King and Queen of the Ring (2024)
- Carmelo Hayes
- Tiffany Stratton
- Tony D'Angelo
- Grayson Waller
- Trick Williams
- Bron Breakker
- Crown Jewel (2024)
- NXT Deadline (2023)
- NXT Vengeance Day (2024)
- Kiana James
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
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Martin McDonagh
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