Former champion defeats Grayson Waller in SmackDown debut

A former champion just debuted on SmackDown and defeated Grayson Waller.

Carmelo Hayes has been one of the most impressive WWE Superstars in NXT. Since his debut, he has turned heads with his mic and in-ring skills. His rise to the top came quickly when he captured the NXT North American Championship.

When it looked like it couldn't improve, Hayes won the NXT Championship earlier this year.

Given his impressive list of accolades, when Logan Paul announced a tournament for the United States Championship, Shawn Michaels named Hayes the person who will represent NXT.

Hence, Hayes was set to take on Grayson Waller in the first round of the United States Championship Tournament. The match was pretty good, and Hayes proved why he was as good as everyone says he was when he defeated Waller after a stellar performance.

Screengrab of WWE's tweet

With this win, Carmelo Hayes will now face the winner of Austin Theory and Kevin Owens's match, which will occur later tonight. It will be interesting to see how far Hayes will progress in this tournament.

What do you make of this match? Sound off in the comments section.