# Carmelo Hayes

Christian Brigham (born August 1, 1994) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand, under the ring name Carmelo Hayes. He is a former one-time NXT Champion, a two-time and longest combined reigning NXT North American Champion, and a one-time and the final NXT Cruiserweight Champion, having unified it with the NXT North American Championship.
Prior to signing with WWE, Brigham wrestled on the independent circuit, primarily in the New England region under the ring name Christian Casanova.

## Professional wrestling career
### Independent circuit (2014–2021)

On April 12, 2014, Brigham made his professional wrestling debut for independent promotion Chaotic Wrestling, losing to Mikey Webb. For the next few years, he worked for various promotions including Northeast Championship Wrestling and Beyond Wrestling. On March 17, 2016, Brigham won the Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship. On March 29, 2019, Casanova won the Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship for the first time, and on August 30, won it a second time, thus making him the Twelfth Triple Crown Champion in Chaotic Wrestling. He also wrestled for Limitless Wrestling, where he defeated CJ Cruz to win the Vacationland Cup on December 19, 2020.

### WWE (2021–present)
#### NXT debut and championship reigns (2021–2023)

On February 12, 2021, Brigham signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center. He made his in-ring debut as a face on the June 1 episode of NXT under the name Carmelo Hayes, accepting Kushida's open challenge for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, but lost. He would then take part in the NXT Breakout Tournament where he defeated Josh Briggs in the first round, Duke Hudson in the semifinals, and won the tournament by defeating Odyssey Jones in the finals and earned a contract for a championship opportunity for a title of his choosing. Following the tournament, he introduced the debuting Trick Williams as his friend during an in-ring promo, and afterwards, would assist Williams in attacking Duke Hudson as he entered the ring, establishing both men as heels and starting an alliance known as the "Trick Melo Gang". On the October 12 episode of NXT, Hayes defeated Isaiah "Swerve" Scott to win the NXT North American Championship after cashing in his Breakout Tournament contract following the latter's title defense against Santos Escobar. He made his first successful title defense on the November 23 episode of NXT against Johnny Gargano and Pete Dunne. At NXT WarGames on December 5, Hayes teamed with Bron Breakker, Grayson Waller and Tony D'Angelo (as "Team 2.0") to defeat Gargano, LA Knight, Pete Dunne and Tommaso Ciampa ("Team Black & Gold") in a WarGames match. At NXT: New Year's Evil on January 4, 2022, Hayes defeated NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong to unify the North American Championship and the Cruiserweight Championship. Hayes was recognized as the final Cruiserweight Champion, which was then retired, and continued as North American Champion. On February 15, he successfully defended the title against Cameron Grimes at NXT: Vengeance Day. At NXT Stand & Deliver on April 2, Hayes lost the title to Grimes in a five-way ladder match, ending his reign at 172 days.
Hayes failed to regain the title in a triple threat match involving Solo Sikoa at Spring Breakin' on May 3, but won it back from Grimes at NXT In Your House on June 4. He successfully defended the title against Grayson Waller on July 5 at NXT: The Great American Bash, Giovanni Vinci on August 16 at NXT: Heatwave, and Ricochet on September 4 at Worlds Collide. On the September 13 episode of NXT, Hayes lost the championship to Sikoa, ending his second reign at 101 days. On October 11, Hayes made his main roster debut on Main Event, defeating Cedric Alexander. He failed to regain the North American Championship in a ladder match at NXT Halloween Havoc on October 22, and against new champion Wes Lee on the November 22 episode of NXT. Hayes then competed in the inaugural Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline on December 10, which was won by Waller.
At NXT Vengeance Day on February 4, Hayes defeated Apollo Crews in a two out of three falls match. Later that night, Hayes and Williams confronted NXT Champion Bron Breakker following the main event. On April 1, 2023, Hayes defeated Breakker in the main event of NXT Stand & Deliver to win the NXT Championship. Three nights later on NXT, Hayes turned face after Breakker, enraged over having lost the title, turned heel by faking a show of respect and attacking Hayes. At NXT Battleground on May 28, Hayes successfully defended the title against Breakker. On the May 30 episode of NXT, Hayes successfully defended the NXT Championship against Noam Dar, after which, he was attacked by Baron Corbin. Hayes wrestled his Raw debut match on June 26, where he lost to Finn Bálor in a non-title match. The following night at NXT: Gold Rush, Hayes retained the NXT Championship against Corbin. At NXT The Great American Bash on July 30, he successfully defended the title against Ilja Dragunov. On the following episode of NXT, Williams told Hayes that he needed to leave and shine on his own, amicably separating the Trick Melo Gang. At NXT No Mercy on September 30, Hayes lost the NXT Championship to Dragunov in a rematch, ending his reign at 182 days.

#### Feud with Trick Williams (2023–2024)

On the October 17 episode of NXT, Williams was slotted into the triple threat match between Hayes, Dijak and Corbin to make it a fatal four-way match for an NXT Championship opportunity against Dragunov at NXT: Halloween Havoc, causing a rift between Hayes and Williams. Before the match, Williams was found attacked backstage and had to be taken to a hospital. Hayes then defeated Dijak and Corbin for the opportunity. On Night 2 of NXT: Halloween Havoc, Hayes failed to regain the title from Dragunov after being distracted by the returning Williams. On the November 21 episode of NXT, Hayes lost an Iron Survivor Challenge qualifying match after interference from Lexis King, who Hayes accused for the backstage attack on Williams. At NXT Deadline on December 9, Hayes defeated King, who subsequently denied attacking Williams. The next day, Hayes was chosen by Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels to represent NXT in the United States Championship #1 Contender Tournament on SmackDown, defeating Grayson Waller in the first round but lost to Kevin Owens in the semifinals.
On January 27, 2024, at Royal Rumble, Hayes made his Royal Rumble match debut as the fifth entrant, eliminating Waller but was eliminated by Finn Bálor. During this time, Hayes and Williams competed in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament, losing to Corbin and Breakker in the finals at NXT Vengeance Day on February 4. Later that night, after Williams failed to win the NXT Championship from Dragunov, Hayes attacked Williams with a steel chair, ending their partnership and turning heel in the process. On the following episode of NXT, Hayes revealed that he attacked Williams back in October 2023 as he felt Williams was trying to steal his spotlight. At NXT: Roadblock on March 5, Hayes lost to Tony D'Angelo in a match to determine the #1 contender to the NXT Championship at NXT Stand & Deliver after being distracted by Williams' entrance music. After the match, Hayes was attacked by the returning Williams. The following week on NXT, Williams challenged Hayes to a match at NXT Stand & Deliver, which Shawn Michaels announced would be the main event, making Hayes and Williams the first two black men to main event NXT Stand & Deliver and an NXT premium live event, and the first two black men to main event a WWE premium live event since The Rock and Booker T at SummerSlam in 2001. At NXT Stand & Deliver on April 6, Hayes lost to Williams. In a rematch on the April 16 episode of NXT, Hayes lost to Williams in a steel cage match despite assistance from his security team, ending their feud in his final match for NXT.

#### SmackDown (2024–present)

At Night 1 of the WWE Draft on the April 26 episode of SmackDown, Hayes was promoted to the SmackDown brand as the third overall draft pick. He then challenged Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to a match as his first opponent as a main roster wrestler, which he lost, but was praised by Rhodes following the match. Hayes participated in the King of the Ring tournament and the Money in the Bank ladder match, but didn't win neither. After Money in the Bank, Hayes began a feud with fellow Money in the Bank competitor Andrade. By the end of September, Hayes and Andrade won three matches each against each other. On the October 25 episode of SmackDown, Hayes and Andrade's game seven match, which was also for a United States Championship opportunity, ended in a no contest after special guest referee and reigning United States Champion LA Knight attacked both men, ending their best-of-seven series match at three wins, three losses and one draw each. At Crown Jewel on November 2, Hayes failed to win the title in a triple threat match also involving Andrade after Knight pinned Hayes. On the December 13 episode of SmackDown, Hayes started a rivalry with Braun Strowman after Strowman was selected as Hayes' surprise opponent, where he lost the match. On the December 20 episode of SmackDown, Hayes interrupted Strowman's interview on The Grayson Waller Effect with A-Town Down Under (Grayson Waller and Austin Theory), which later culminated in a match between Strowman and Hayes, with Hayes winning via count-out.
On the January 17, 2025 episode of SmackDown Hayes began a feud with Jimmy Uso and had challenged him in a match, which ended in a disqualification after The Bloodline's Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu attacked Jimmy during the match. Following the beatdown, Hayes would then try to form an alliance with The Bloodline, but would end up getting attacked by Fatu. Hayes would then faced Damian Priest, who moved from Raw the week prior but was unsuccessful. On the January 31, 2025 episode of SmackDown Hayes had a rematch against Jimmy Uso But was unsuccessful.
At Royal Rumble on February 2, Hayes entered the titular Royal Rumble match at #4 but was eliminated by Bron Breakker. Afterwards Hayes attacked Akira Tozawa, causing him to be replaced in the Royal Rumble by celebrity entrant IShowSpeed. On the February 7, 2025 episode of SmackDown, Hayes defeated Tozawa. On the February 14, 2025 episode of SmackDown, Hayes faced R-Truth following a backstage confrontation between the two, and was victorious.
On the February 21, 2025 episode of SmackDown Hayes & The Miz had a tag team match against R-Truth and LA Knight and were successful.

## Other media

Brigham, as Carmelo Hayes, made his video game debut in WWE 2K23, and later appeared in WWE 2K24.

## Personal life

Brigham is currently in a relationship with fellow professional wrestler Lea Mitchell, professionally known as Kelani Jordan.

## Championships and accomplishments

* Beyond Wrestling
** Pride of New England Tournament for Tomorrow (2019)
* Chaotic Wrestling
** Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
** Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship (1 time)
** Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tripilicious
** Twelfth Triple Crown Champion
* ESPN
** Ranked No. 7 of the 30 best Pro Wrestlers Under 30 in 2023
* Liberty States Pro Wrestling
** Liberty States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
* Limitless Wrestling
** Limitless Wrestling World Championship (1 time)
** Vacationland Cup (2020)
* Lucky Pro Wrestling
** LPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Elia Markopoulos
* Pro Wrestling Illustrated
** Ranked No. 13 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2023
* Northeast Championship Wrestling
** NCW New England Championship (1 time)
* Northeast Wrestling
** NEW Live Championship (1 time, inaugural)
* WWE
** NXT Championship (1 time)
** NXT North American Championship (2 times)
** NXT Cruiserweight Championship (1 time, final)
** NXT Breakout Tournament (2021)
** NXT Year-End Award
*** Match of the Year (2023) vs. Ilja Dragunov at NXT No Mercy