Carmelo Hayes has joined 946. The SmackDown star, absent from WWE television since August, appeared as a masked attacker at the end of Monday’s Raw main event and helped the group wipe out The Bloodline.
The six-man tag, with The Usos and Solo Sikoa facing Royce Keys, Bronco Nima and Lucien Price in 946’s in-ring debut from Bossier City, Louisiana, ended in a no-contest. Sikoa had put Keys through the announce table with a Samoan Drop and was setting up the Samoan Spike when a masked man hit him from behind with a crowbar. The attacker unmasked as Hayes.
Hayes, Keys, Jaida Parker, Nima and Price then stood over Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and Sikoa as the show went off the air. It is the latest escalation in a feud we called the hottest angle on Raw.
The appearance gives context to a social media tease. Hayes blacked out his X profile picture earlier Monday without explanation, and he had not wrestled on WWE television since losing to Baron Corbin on the August 14 SmackDown. Keys, Nima, Price and Parker have all blacked out their own accounts as well.
Hayes’ two-month absence had fueled speculation about his future, especially after Ilja Dragunov, who lost the United States Championship to Hayes in December, left WWE when his contract expired. Dragunov is expected to land in AEW.
