5. KUSHIDA vs. Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship – WWE NXT 6/1/21
The first Cruiserweight Championship open challenge for KUSHIDA was answered by Carmelo Hayes on the June 1, 2021 episode of WWE NXT.
Hayes got a brief vignette to introduce him to the fans beforehand and quickly put everyone on notice.
Carmelo proved that he could go hold-for-hold with the Cruiserweight Champion and even get the better of him on a few exchanges.
KUSHIDA tried to use his superior mat work to ground Hayes, but Melo kept the hope spots coming and hit a beautiful springboard leg drop.
When Hayes went for another springboard, KUSHIDA caught him with the fastball punch and kicked at his arm to set up for the Hoverboard Lock to retain the Cruiserweight Title by submission.
This felt like a strong introduction for Carmelo Hayes who has become a standout of the NXT 2.0 rebrand and showed that KUSHIDA could have a quality bout with any opponent.
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