WWE's Bobby Lashley Addresses Carmelo Hayes, Lack Of Respect

Carmelo Hayes was only called up to the WWE main roster a few weeks ago, but the former WWE NXT Champion is already ruffling feathers. After a confrontation with Bobby Lashley on last week's "WWE SmackDown," Hayes took to X with an insult to the veteran. Appearing on "The Bump," Lashley was shown the post and offered his response to Hayes.

"I was gonna say something nice about this kid, but now I just want to go beat his ass," Lashley said. "We have all these guys that come up to the main roster and all they want to do is start talking trash."

Lashley pointed out that he holds numerous accolades within WWE and has done things that Hayes has yet to get close to achieving. While Lashley can appreciate the attitude that Hayes has put on display, he encouraged the younger performer to avoid disrespecting the people who have blazed the trails that he intends to follow.

"These guys need to start getting checked, and they need to start understanding that this business is a business about respect," Lashley continued. "When you come up here, you respect the people that you want to compete against. ... If you beat them, kudos to you — keep going. But there needs to be a level of respect, and we've lost that in this business."

Both Lashley and Hayes are set to participate in the ongoing King of the Ring tournament, with Lashley scheduled to face recent WWE addition Tama Tonga in the first round while Hayes will wrestle Baron Corbin. Based on the chatter between Lashley and Hayes, it shouldn't come as a surprise if they face one another soon. However, they'll both have to get through the first two rounds if they want to do so in the tournament.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Bump" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.