The NXT Cruiserweight Championship has been unified with NXT North American Championship and is in the possession of Carmelo Hayes following his match with Roderick Strong at New Year's Evil.
It all went down on Tuesday, January 4 at the Performance Center. NXT North American Champion Carmelo Hayes and NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong went one-on-one in the opening match of the show. It was a title unification match, meaning whoever got the win would leave with both title belts, but return next week with only one.
The match was absolutely brilliant and the two men had incredible chemistry. Strong's experience combined perfectly with Carmelo's cocky in-ring swagger and the end result was a match that seemed like it would be damn-near impossible to top.
Hayes got the win when he landed his guillotine leg drop on Strong and covered the now-former Cruiserweight Champop for the 1-2-3. After the bell, Hayes celebrated with his hype man Trick Williams as he was presented with both title belts.
27-year-old Carmelo Hayes signed for WWE back in February of 2021 following a seven-year stint on the independent scene where he performed under the name Christian Casanova. He made his in-ring WWE debut on the June 1 episode of NXT after accepting an open challenge from NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida. Hayes lost the match, but put in a good performance and showed the NXT universe what he's capable of. After the bell, he received validation from the veteran Kushida in the form of a handshake.
Hayes won the North American Championship when he pinned Isaiah "Swerve" Scott after cashing in the guaranteed championship opportunity he earned by winning the 2021 NXT Breakout Tournament.
Diamond Mine's Roderick Strong became NXT Cruiserweight Champion when he defeated Kushida on the September 21 edition of NXT 2.0 last year.