When Carmelo Hayes and Baron Corbin were brawling outside of the ring in their NXT Championship match, the crowd cheered “Him” on but not with the traditional “Mel-o” cheers that have become a fixture of the Performance Center. No, the crowd instead decided to serenade the current NXT Champ with the war hymn of a former one, his friend Seth Rollins, repurposing “Visionary” with the syllables “M-el-o.”

A surreal moment? Most definitely, as Melo has only been friends with Rollins for a week, give or take, but it's clear their interactions on NXT and then on RAW after it have created a bond that fans have come to really appreciate as Hayes continues to cement himself as the top star in developmental.

Discussing his relationship with Rollins in an appearance on The Bump, Hayes explained just how much of an honor it's been to work alongside “The Visionary” and what it's meant for his career.

“It just feels like something that came out of nowhere. I expected to definitely Seth down the road. But because it’s happening now with me in NXT, I definitely expected, down the road, I was gonna see him at some point, work my way up the ranks. But to be able to associate myself with the World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins so soon has been an honor and a privilege. It’s been an honor more than anything to be able to work with Seth,” Hayes said via Fightful.

“It was a cool co-sign, man. I’ve said in so many interviews how much I look up to a guy like Seth, and how I aspire to be a champion like Seth and to be a performer like Seth. He’s the workhorse of today’s generation, and to be in the same conversation as him, my name in the same conversation, it’s a huge upside for me and for my career. I appreciate Seth so much and everything that he’s done for us.”

Are Rollins and Melo going to keep their connection alive long-term? Will the man formerly known as the “A-Champ” team up with Rollins when he lands on the main roster, bypassing the connection many assumed would occur between Hayes and Bobby Lashley in a re-formed Hurt Business? Well, considering that the other top developmental prospects in the WWE system, Bron Breakker, and Grayson Waller, are now both firmly heels, keeping Melo a babyface might be the best course of action moving forward, especially after his very good match with The Judgement Day's Finn Balor on RAW.

Carmelo Hayes reflects on his match with Finn Balor.

Turning his attention from the current WWE World Heavyweight Champion to the man who might take his strap at Money in the Bank, Carmelo Hayes reflected on his match with Finn Balor on RAW and explained what made the match so special.

“He might be one of the greatest NXT Champions of all time, and then Seth being the very first, so just the fact that I got to get in the ring, again, it’s wild because I assumed it was gonna be a lot further down the road that I was gonna be able to mix it up with these guys,” Hayes said. “So it really was, like you said earlier about getting thrown in the deep end, and to be in there with Finn Balor, incredible performer with so many accolades. People are talking about the loss and this and that, but at the end of the day, it’s Finn Balor. He’s got a World Heavyweight Championship shot in less than a week. I gave my best efforts, and give me a couple more years, give me a couple more months, and let’s crack at it again and we’ll see, maybe the outcome will be different. But as of right now, it was Finn Balor‘s night. It wasn’t my night, but I picked up the win last night, and everything is even.”

Sitting pretty at 1-1 on the week, Hayes is still the NXT Champion and even got into it a bit backstage with Rhea Ripley, who let him know that, because he stepped into The Judgement Day's business, he has become The Judgement Day's business. What, you may ask, does that mean exactly? Well, it could mean nothing, just a chance to get another big named performer on NXT while trying to get ratings up, or it could mean that Hayes' trip to RAW may be more than a “one night only” engagement, with “Him” standing by “The Revolutionary's” side against The Judgement Day on future editions of RAW, or even at Money in the Bank? Fans will have to keep tuning in to find out which.