Carmelo Hayes on working with Undertaker, what he learned while helping Cody Rhodes prepare for his comeback from surgery, main roster call-up talk – Pro Wrestling Dot Net

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

Insight With Chris Van Vliet with guest Carmelo Hayes
Host: Chris Van Vliet
Podcast available via Podcasts.Apple.com

Hayes on working with Undertaker: “It was like a dream. It was like a fever dream. And like, it’s funny, a lot of people kept, you know, hitting me up the day after and you know, that night. It was like, I almost couldn’t believe that it happened. But there was that moment where you’re like, Look, I’m a pro and I’m gonna be in this moment and I understand the assignment, I remember there was a moment where I was a little kid and I’m like, shoot, this is freaking cool, man. This is really cool. The whole thing with Taker at the end, you know, I didn’t know that was gonna happen. I just didn’t know what to do. I just kind of was like, let me just walk back with him. And he walked me through the whole thing with the pose and everything. I was just sitting there like a kid. And I remember walking back through I was like, that was so freakin cool. He just patted me on the back. But it was a great moment. Just a cool experience. And something I will never forget.”

When will he be on the main roster: “Yeah, I’m not sick of it. But it’s just kind of like I wish people would just appreciate the time that I’m in right now and stop trying to future-book me. You know what I mean? Just like let’s live in the moment because I’ve been able to do that. And if I can do that, you all can do that. I’m super excited for what’s to come. A year ago, I was like, you know, a little bit antsy about it. And then I realized I said, You know what, let me just embrace the spirit in my life. Because, you know, we’re gonna have all those moments down the road, but you know, this period right now, you only get this one time, you know, I mean, the come up, you know, the rise, and I’ve been grateful enough to be in such a great position and then ecstasy where it’s truly been an uphill rise. So, you know, I couldn’t complain if I wanted to. So I just want the fans to just enjoy this process right now and see me grow. Because you know, once you get to the main roster, it’s like starting from scratch. It’s like a baby. So you know, this form of Carmelo Hayes is probably not gonna be the same form of Carmelo Hayes on the main roster. So to say, Let’s just enjoy this now while it’s there.”

On helping Cody Rhodes train for his comeback: “So I know Cody had like, he’d been reaching out and helping me out, give me like little pointers and telling me that things are good and giving me like, you know, just talking to me a little bit about certain matters prior to that. And then I know he was getting ready to come back from the Rumble. And he had picked Joe Gacy myself to kind of work around with him. I think it had a lot to do with you know, Joe Gacy being a little bit bigger, me being a little bit more agile and faster. And then obviously Cody, you know, just want to get to know us younger talent and stuff like that. But it was a huge honor. And like I said in his documentary, I didn’t feel like I was helping him. I felt like he was helping me. He was fine. He was chilling, but I was like, Oh my god. This is how these guys do it. This is such a difference when you get in there with guys like that. Is such a difference like you like oh, this is that pacing this is that you know I mean, this is that energy. This is where you turn it up here. Like I learned a lot with Cody. I really did.”