There are three guarantees in life: death, taxes, and a United States Championship Open Challenge match on a Friday night. On Friday’s episode of “WWE SmackDown,” current titleholder Carmelo Hayes put his gold up for grabs against AAA’s El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr., and while the AAA Latin American Champion gave Hayes a fight, Hayes walked out of Portland the same way he walked in: still the United States Champion.
The champion began Friday’s title match as the underdog. The bell rang, and Wagner Jr. immediately cornered Hayes with equal parts agility- and strength-based offense. While Hayes was able to stage a comeback with a rope-hung backwards Leg Drop onto Wagner Jr., the challenger’s size overwhelmed Hayes several times in the lock-up. Despite receiving body-inverting clotheslines and sadistically inventive powerbombs, however, Hayes continued to fight on. He met a superplex with a kick-out at one, and traded chops, blows, and enzuigiris with Wagner Jr. to persevere, despite the challenger kicking out of The First 48.
Hayes may have never faced a competitor like Wagner Jr. in his United States Championship reign before Friday, but the result stayed the same. After escaping a moonsault from Wagner Jr., Hayes ascended to the top to land Nothing but Net for the victory. Both champions, exhausted from their standing ovation-worthy battle, exchanged respect to each other following Hayes’ victory.
In just 78 days, Hayes has defended his United States title a whopping seven times. Since dethroning Ilja Dragunov, Hayes has defended his title against household names in Johnny Gargano, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Matt Cardona, while besting up-and-comers like TNA X Division Champion Leon Slater, Rey Fenix, and, now, Wagner Jr..
Read the full article here
