Carmelo Hayes Comments On Working With Shawn Michaels In WWE NXT

Carmelo Hayes is gearing up for arguably the biggest match of his professional wrestling career thus far at "WWE NXT" Deadline on Saturday night, when he will compete against four other participants in a revolutionary and grueling match known as the Iron Survivor Challenge. The winner of the bout will earn a future title shot against "NXT" Champion Bron Breakker.

The announcement of the innovative match was initially made by Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels. Ahead of the exciting challenge, Hayes spoke with Denise Salcedo about working with the WWE Hall of Famer. "I always say this, I have to step out of my shoes and realize that he's Shawn Michaels, like 'Mr. WrestleMania,' 'HBK' Shawn Michaels," Hayes said. "Because we see him so often ...we just see him on the regular and he's not —you know, you talk to him and he doesn't act like 'Shawn Michaels.' He's just like a regular guy. He's just humble."

The two-time "NXT" North American Champion said he tries to "listen very closely" when conferring with Michaels "because he might say something in passing or something that sticks" with him. "I'm just a sponge when I'm around him," Hayes said.

Michaels' close friend and long-time DX stablemate Paul "Triple H" Levesque is the WWE Chief Content Officer. Hayes described the working relationship between Levesque and Michaels as a "collaborative effort" and is reassured that neither was "going to let me flop." Michaels previously praised Hayes, noting his interest in the talent from his introduction to WWE.