Carmelo Hayes defeats former champion at WWE NXT Heatwave

NXT Superstar Carmelo Hayes has successfully defended his North American Championship at NXT Heatwave.

Hayes' dominant North American title run has seen the A-Champ earn some impressive victories on NXT 2.0. On last week's show, Giovanni Vinci emerged as Carmelo's next challenger, which was his first chance at singles gold on NXT 2.0. The two went back and forth in a brief war of words before the championship match was made for this week's special event.

Hayes emerged with a somewhat special entrance. He stopped on the way to the entrance and burnt a t-shirt with Giovanni Vinci's face on it. The match itself felt like a homage to the black-and-gold era of NXT, with work rate and athleticism taking center stage. Vinci came very close to defeating Carmelo on more than one occasion in the match, but the interference from Trick Williams ensured that didn't happen.

Hayes was able to take advantage of the distraction and hit his finish on Vinci for the win, retaining his North American title in the process.

Did you enjoy the opening match of NXT Heatwave? Would you like to see a Giovanni Vinci vs. Carmelo Hayes rematch? You can share your thoughts in the comment section down below.