Wrestling veteran concerned about former champion after major loss to Kevin Owens on SmackDown (Exclusive)

The legendary wrestling journalist Bill Apter spoke about Carmelo Hayes losing to Kevin Owens on SmackDown this week.

During the semi-finals of the United States Championship Tournament, Hayes squared off against Owens. Despite having a cast on his hand, The Prizefighter went all out against the former NXT Champion and picked up the win with a devastating Stunner.

While speaking on the latest episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's SmackTalk podcast this week, the legendary wrestling journalist Bill Apter questioned whether the loss would affect Carmelo's standing on the main roster. Apter felt that the defeat to Kevin Owens could somehow diminish Hayes' push on SmackDown.

"Does it weaken Carmelo's standing on the main roster by having a loss like that? This is another loss...But I'm just hoping that they're not taking his real estate down a little bit," Bill Apter said. [32:43 - 33:36]

You can watch the full podcast below:

Santos Escobar also won his semi-final match against Bobby Lashley, and it will be interesting to see who eventually comes out as the winner of the tournament and finally challenges Logan Paul for the United States Championship.

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Who do you think will emerge as the number one contender for Logan Paul's United States Championship? Sound off in the comments section below!

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You can catch the full results of SmackDown here.

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