Rising WWE Star Set To Wrestle For LA Knight's United States Title On SmackDown

By Ross W Berman IV
LA Knight Wwe/Getty Images

Ever since he dethroned Logan Paul for the United States Championship at WWE SummerSlam, LA Knight has been on top of "WWE SmackDown" midcard scene. The Slim Jim spokesperson has already defended his belt against Santos Escobar, Ludwig Kaiser, and Andrade, and we now know when his fourth defense will take place, and against whom. According to "WWE SmackDown" General Manager Nick Aldis, Knight will defend against former WWE NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes on Friday's episode of the blue brand on USA Network.

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Hayes has been embroiled in a rivalry with Andrade which has now seen each man pick up three wins against the other, but more directly relevant is Hayes' match against AJ Styles on last week's "SmackDown," which saw Styles appear suffer an injury that resulted in Hayes being awarded the win and a shot at the United States title. Whether or not Styles is actually hurt has been the subject of some discourse; Aldis merely referred to a "controversial ending" to the match and added that "the show must go on." 

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This will be Hayes' first championship match on the main roster and his first title match of any kind since unsuccessfully challenging Ilja Dragunov for the NXT Championship on the 2023 "Halloween Havoc" episode of "WWE NXT," almost a full year ago. In the time since, Hayes has had several opportunities to become a No. 1 contender, including the King of the Ring tournament, the men's Money in the Bank ladder match, and one of his six matches with Andrade, but has come up short each time. Now he'll attempt to end Knight's US title reign at just 70 days — though Andrade, Styles, or someone else could potentially get involved.

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