Since 2014, the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal has been a convention amongst the WWE WrestleMania week festivities (excluding the 2020 iteration), with former NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes emerging as its latest winner. During an interview with “The Battleground Podcast,” Hayes looked back on the notable victory, which got here courtesy of his final elimination on Andrade.
“I used to be all the time championship gold oriented. I didn’t grow up saying I desired to win the Andre the Giant Battle Royal, however it was cool, man,” Hayes said. “It did feel prefer it was just a little little bit of a reward for my labor, but like I said, I used to be championship oriented regardless, so it wasn’t ok. I wasn’t identical to, ‘Yeah, I won the battle royal.’ No, it was [a feeling of] I need to be a freakin champ. You understand what I mean? That is cool, but like where’s my title? I’m in search of the gold, however it was a cool moment. The group’s response, it was really cool to listen to that so many individuals were excited I used to be finally getting some momentum.”
On the time of his Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal win, Hayes was a yr faraway from his predominant roster call-up, and as he indicated, wanting to claim more WWE championship gold. It wasn’t until December 2025, though, that Hayes finally fulfilled that goal by dethroning Ilja Dragunov as WWE United States Champion.
The sphere for this yr’s battle royal honoring “The Eighth Wonder of the World” has yet to be revealed, though provided that Hayes is now titleless heading into WrestleMania 42 week, it is feasible that he may compete in it again.
In case you use any of the quotes in this text, please credit “The Battleground Podcast” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.