Carmelo Hayes

**Christian Brigham** (born August 1, 1994) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brandunder the ring name **Carmelo Hayes**, and is the current NXT North American Champion in his first reign.

 Birth name
 Born
 Billed height
 Billed weight
 Trained by
 Debut

He is a former one-time NXT Cruiserweight Champion. Before signing to WWE, he performed on the independent circuit under the ring name **Christian Casanova**.

## Professional wrestling career

### Beyond Wrestling (2015–2020)

On January 23, 2015, Brigham made his professional wrestling debut in the independent promotion, Beyond Wrestling, teaming with Drew Mastone and Kevin Park in a six-man tag team match where they defeated 2Buff, Ace Romero, and Xavier Bell. During his time in Beyond, he won the Pride of New England Tournament for Tomorrow, where he defeated Kenn Doane, Alec Price, and Richard Holliday in the tournament's First Round, Semifinal, and Final, respectively.

### WWE (2021–present)

#### NXT Black and Gold (2021)

On February 12, 2021, Brigham signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center. He would make his in-ring debut on the June 1 episode of NXT under the name **Carmelo Hayes** where he accepted Kushida's open challenge for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship but was defeated. On the June 22 episode, Hayes had his second match on NXT, reminiscent of John Cena's SmackDown debut in 2002 against Kurt Angle, confronting and then facing Adam Cole in a losing effort.

On July 6, Hayes was announced to be a part of the 2021 NXT Breakout Tournament. On the July 27 episode of NXT, Hayes defeated Josh Briggs in the first round. He then went on to defeat Duke Hudson in the semi-finals on the August 17 episode, before defeating Odyssey Jones on the August 24 episode to win the 2021 NXT Breakout Tournament. On the September 14 episode, Hayes and a debuting Trick Williams maliciously attacked Duke Hudson before his match, establishing themselves as a heel duo.

#### NXT North American Champion (2021–present)

On the October 12 episode of NXT 2.0, Hayes successfully cashed in his Breakout Tournament contract on Isaiah "Swerve" Scott to win the NXT North American Championship. Hayes successfully defended his title against Johnny Gargano and Pete Dunne in a triple threat match on the November 23 episode.

On January 4, 2022, at the special New Year's Evil episode of NXT 2.0, Hayes defeated NXT Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong to unify the North American Championship and Cruiserweight Championship. The Cruiserweight Championship was immediately retired, with Hayes recognized as the final Cruiserweight Champion and continuing as North American Champion. He successfully retained his championship against Cameron Grimes at the Vengeance Day special episode on February 15, 2022. On March 1, edition of NXT; Hayes retained title against Pete Dunne.

## 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)
	+ Twelfth Triple Crown Champion
* **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. 256 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2021
* **Northeast Championship Wrestling**
	+ NCW New England Championship (1 time)
* **Northeast Wrestling**
	+ NEW Live Championship (1 time)
* **WWE**
	+ NXT North American Championship (1 time, current)
	+ NXT Cruiserweight Championship(1 time, final)
	+ NXT Breakout Tournament (2021)