WWE SmackDown star says working with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton has been a career-altering experience

The WWE roster on both SmackDown and RAW currently has a healthy balance of veteran talent providing great depth to both brands and young upstarts looking to make a name for themselves. Interestingly, a 30-year-old star on the blue brand recently highlighted that working with Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes gifted him with a career-altering experience.

Carmelo Hayes was drafted to Friday Night SmackDown at this year’s WWE Draft in April. The former NXT Champion asked to be put in a match with The American Nightmare as soon as he was drafted. Both wrestlers had a good match on his very first night on the main roster, with Hayes eventually losing the bout.

Following this, he also faced Randy Orton multiple times, which included a sneaky pinfall granting ‘Him’ his Money in the Bank ticket. Speaking to Denise Salcedo, Hayes noted that his main roster phase is where he has seen the most criticism in his career. However, he also noted that working with established veterans like Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes helped him a lot.

“But really, it's just kind of like that upping my game to that next level, because there's so many guys up there that I've got to work with, Cody and Randy, and things like that that have taught me that there are so many different levels to this game and there's levels that I would have never knew if I wasn't in the ring with those guys. So it's been an amazing process and I'm just getting started really and I'm looking forward to see what's next." [H/T - Fightful]

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The Undertaker says Randy Orton is in a very different place in WWE right now

WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker shed light on some of his recent conversations with Randy Orton. Speaking about it on his Six Feet Under podcast, The Dead Man said that Orton is enjoying his current role in the company. Moreover, he also added that The Viper is very satisfied and in a very different place than he used to be.

“I've had a couple of really nice conversations with Randy the last couple of times I've been around him and he is in such a different place than where he normally was. He looks happy. He's having a great time, he's enjoying life, he's enjoying his role within the company. I think everything's going great for him,” said Taker. [54:30 - 55:07]

Thus, while rising talent like Carmelo Hayes and others are looking up to The Apex Predator and learning the business from him, Orton is also loving the process. Notably, Kevin Owens already sees Orton as a relieving presence in the WWE locker room.

It would be interesting to see what lies next for The Legend Killer after his World Heavyweight Title loss against Gunther at Bash in Berlin.