When did Carmello Hayes debut in WWE

Christian Brigham, professionally known as Carmelo Hayes is an American Professional Wrestler. He is currently signed with WWE and is wrestling under the development brand NXT 2.0. Carmelo Hayes is the current NXT Champion in his first reign.

Christian Brigham started his professional wrestling training in 2014 and got trained by Brain Fury. He made his pro-wrestling debut at Chaotic Wrestling independent circuit and lost his debut match against Mikey Webb. Carmello Hayes then appeared on multiple independent wrestling promotions including Beyond Wrestling, Chaotic Wrestling, Liberty States Pro Wrestling, Limitless Wrestling, Lucky Pro Wrestling, and Northeast Championship Wrestling Northeast Wrestling. He has held multiple championships, tournaments and awards including the NXT Championship, NXT North American Championship (twice), NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (twice), Chaotic New England Championship, Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Championship, Liberty States Heavyweight Championship, Limitless Wrestling World Championship, LPW Tag Team Championship, NCW New England Championship and NEW Live Championship. He is the twelfth Triple Crown Champion at Chaotic Wrestling and has also Ranked No. 77 among the Top 500 singles wrestlers in the Pro Wrestling Illustrated list 2022.

When did Carmelo Hayes debut in WWE?

Christian Brighan signed a contract with WWE on February 12, 2021 and was assigned to be a part of the WWE Performance Center. He made his in-ring debut at WWE’s developmental brand NXT on June 1, 2021 under the ring name Carmelo Hayes. He accepted Kushida’s Open Challenge for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, which ended in a losing effort. He had his second appearance on NXT after 2 weeks on June 22, by confronting Adam Cole by recreating John Cena’s debut against Kurt Angle in 2002.

Carmelo Hayes then participated in the NXT Breakout Tournament in July 2021 and won the finals against Odyssey Jones. After a successful victory in the NXT Breakout Tournament, Hayes returned to NXT by attacking Hudson before his match with debutant Trick Williams. Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams joined hands and established themselves as a heel duo. As a result of winning the NXT Breakout Tournament, Hayes was rewarded with a championship match contract for the North American Championship. He cashed in his contract on Isaiah “Swerve” Scott and won the NXT North American Championship for the first time. Bring his first Championship belt in WWE. He eventually unified the NXT Cruiserweight Championship with the NXT North American Championship and retired the Cruiserweight title. He held the championship for 172 days on his first reign and lost the title to Cameron Grimes in a five-way ladder match. His second reign lasted for 101 days and lost to Solo Sikoa. He had multiple pursuits to capture the North American Championship but failed. Hayes then turned his focus on the NXT Championship and received a shot at NXT Stand & Deliver, where he defeated Bron Breakker to become the NXT Champion for the first time and turned face in the process. He is the reigning NXT Champion as of May 2023.