Carmelo Hayes Considers Switching Up His Finisher

Carmelo Hayes is contemplating a change to his finisher after a successful run in NXT and his debut on the main roster in 2024. For most of his WWE career, he has utilized a diving leg drop called Nothing But Net.

In a recent interview with Postmedia’s Rob Wong and Jan Murphy on No Holds Barred for the Toronto Sun, Hayes explained his choice of finisher. He noted, “I used to do it on the independents, but it was a throwaway because then you don’t know better, what’s what. Then you get to WWE and your skills get honed. I remember Shawn [Michaels], I remember I brought it up, I was like, ‘I can do this move off the top rope.’ I was working with a bunch of big guys at that time. I was working with Josh Briggs and Duke Hudson, so I was working with these huge guys. I remember thinking, ‘I need a finish, something that I can do. I can do this move.’ I remember coach [Matt] Bloom had mentioned, he’s like, ‘That’s a big move, it’s not a move you’re gonna be able to do every night.’ I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t plan on it.’ [Laughs] Then Shawn, that was his jam. You gotta have a finish that’s over and everybody knows, so he was very adamant, you’re hitting your finish, you’re hitting your finish. Here we are, and people think it takes more out of me than it really does. I’ve perfected it. I understand exactly where I need to land so I’m not taking the brunt of it. I can hit it at any point, I’ve done it over 100 times. So that’s kind of what I’m going with now. I am playing with finding a different finish because I have a deep move set that I can throw in there here and there, so I’m looking into something else possibly,” Hayes shared.