Carmelo Hayes has blacked out his X profile picture during a two-month absence from WWE television, and hours later MJF posted a throwback photo of the two wrestling each other on the independent scene.
Hayes has not appeared since the August 14 SmackDown in Boston, where he lost to Baron Corbin in a United States Championship match. He gave no explanation for the profile change, F4W Online reported, and WWE has not given a public reason for his absence.
MJF shared the image on his Instagram Story. It dates to Hayes’ days on the New England independents as Christian Casanova. Nothing reported so far ties the post to any change in Hayes’ WWE status, but the timing has fans wondering whether the AEW star and Hayes could meet again.
No backstage heat reported
Sean Ross Sapp said on a Fightful Select Q&A in August that he had never heard Hayes described negatively backstage, and that Hayes has always been referred to as “dependable, professional, and with a lot of upside.” We covered Sapp’s comments on how WWE views Hayes at the time.
Hayes won the United States Championship from Ilja Dragunov in December and lost it to Sami Zayn in March, then stayed in the title picture until the loss to Corbin. AEW’s Andrade El Idolo publicly asked “Where are you Amigo?” on X on September 4.
Hayes and Kelani Jordan are also due to marry this month. Speaking on the Battleground Podcast in April, Hayes said “the wedding is in October, everybody,” as he cleared up rumors that the couple had already wed.
Fightful Select reported in September that Dragunov, who lost that title to Hayes, is expected to land in AEW after his WWE contract expired. There is no official word on when Hayes will return to SmackDown.
