Carmelo Hayes is ready for his semifinal showdown in the ongoing WWE United States Championship Contender Tournament.
Following his first-round victory in the tourney over Grayson Waller on WWE Friday Night SmackDown this week, the former NXT World Champion spoke with Kevin Owens, his opponent in the semifinals, backstage.
After the show, Hayes spoke about this encounter on this week’s episode of the SmackDown Lowdown post-show.
“I’m glad I got to talk to Kevin for a second and just let him know that I’m not that guy,” Hayes said. “There’s so many guys around here that probably walk on eggshells around Kevin Owens, but I’m not going to be one of them.”
Hayes continued, “I am Carmelo Hayes. I am a former NXT Champion, just like Kevin Owens. On top of that, I am him, and one thing I won’t do is bow down or back down from anybody.”
Check out the video below. H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.
