They’ve had thrilling feuds over the WWE NXT and United States championships… could the AEW TNT or International title be the next one Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov fight over?
Word is that Dragunov will be joining AEW as soon as he’s able to (he’s free and clear of his expired WWE contract, but visa issues could be slowing things down). Over the past 24 hours, we’ve seen evidence Hayes — or whatever his post-WWE name might be — could join him there.
First, there’s the fact Melo hasn’t wrestled since
his August loss to then-Men’s U.S. champ Baron Corbin. The unexplained layoff is the latest frustrating stretch of Hayes’ main roster run, for him and his fans.
Then, as RingTheBell82 told us in The Feed last night (Oct. 11), Hayes blacked out his X/Twitter profile picture — something that typically indicates issues between a wrestler and their promotion they’re currently under contract to. That’s the only thing he’s changed about the account however, which could mean he’s not ready to burn that bridge, or even close that door, just yet.
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Which would make sense, seeing as his fiancee Kelani Jordan is the reigning NXT Women’s champ. Don’t want to turn up the heat too high with your future life partner still in the WWE pot.
It also explains why AEW’s Maxwell Jacob Friedman is stirring that pot by posting pictures of himself facing off with Christian Casanova — Melo’s pre-WWE name — from their days on the independents. This is from MJF’s Instagram Story:
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Will Tony Khan be able to cook up an MJF/Christian Casanova feud in AEW? We haven’t heard talk of Carmelo Hayes’ WWE contract expiring soon, but he came to the main roster around the same time that Dragunov did in 2024. Ilja’s contract expired and wasn’t renewed in August, around the time of Melo’s last match.
Speculate away, scripted fight fans.
