29-year-old WWE star denies that he lost to Randy Orton; explains what happened

WWE veteran Randy Orton emerged victorious on the latest episode of Friday Night SmackDown to advance to the semifinals of the 2024 King of the Ring tournament. His opponent in the match was Carmelo Hayes, who denied that he lost the match.

The former NXT Champion was drafted to the blue brand during the 2024 WWE Draft. Three weeks ago, the 29-year-old star collided with Cody Rhodes in the main event, and this week, he took on The Viper in another main event bout. The 14-time World Champion nailed Melo with an RKO out of nowhere after the latter hit a springboard in the ring.

During a backstage interview after the show, Carmelo Hayes claimed that he did not lose to Randy Orton on SmackDown this week. He explained that he just did not win the match.

"You wanna talk about if I lost, the way I look at it, I didn't lose, I just didn't win. Look, Randy Orton, 14-time World Champion, all the accolades in the world, but, you know, I stood toe-to-toe with him. I almost beat Randy Orton just like I almost beat Cody Rhodes, and you wanna talk about facts, you wanna talk about stats, this is my second main event here on SmackDown. So, you know, that's a win in itself. And on top of that, my signing bonus hits tomorrow," Carmelo Hayes said. [0:13 - 0:37]

You can watch the interview below:

What the future has in store for Melo remains to be seen.

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WWE Superstar Randy Orton is only two wins away from becoming the 2024 King of the Ring

Randy Orton has accomplished a lot of things in his WWE career. He has headlined WrestleMania multiple times, won numerous championships and he has shared the ring with many legends as well. The Viper's next opponent in the 2024 King of the Ring tournament is The Bloodline's Tama Tonga.

The two stars already had issues with each other, and the team of Randy and Kevin Owens collided with Tama and Solo Sikoa in a Street Fight at Backlash France. If The Legend Killer beats Tama Tonga in the semifinals next week, he will only be one win away from adding another accomplishment to his long list of accolades.

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If you use the quotes from the first half of this article, please give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.