In a recent appearance on the Cheap Heat podcast, WWE NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes reminisced about training with Cody Rhodes during the latter’s recovery from his torn pectoral.
Hayes explained that while he and Joe Gacy were there to assist Rhodes in training, he learned at least as much from Cody as The American Nightmare acquired from his presence.
Hayes will defend the NXT Championship against Bron Breakker this Sunday at NXT Battleground in Las Vegas.
Hayes said, “They had mentioned to me, ‘Cody requested to train with you and Joe Gacy in the next week or so.’ ‘Oh shoot, cool.’ Cody had reached out to me two or three times before, just giving me critiques on my work and things like that. I had already had a back-and-forth relationship with him. I had met Cody in the past. I was like, ‘All the people that he knows, and he’s picking me and Joe Gacy? Okay.’ He showed up, and a lot of people are like, ‘We helped Cody,’ but I learned a lot from Cody in that time working with him. He was fine. He didn’t need my help. I just think he needed clearance from medical to go through. We worked for three or four days, we did matches on the fly and were just having fun and coming up with ideas like we have a match. He was helping me on my stuff. It was the little things. I credit Cody a lot. He’s like, ‘Melo and Joe Gacy helped me,’ No, he helped me a lot, actually.”
