10 Wrestlers Who MUST Win A Title In 2026
3. Carmelo Hayes
As much as WWE likes to talk about how they won the war with WCW by focusing on younger talent, they also make the same mistake time and time again, where they wait too long to pull the trigger on someone in a significant enough way and then wonder why they aren't as big of a star.
It shouldn't have taken Kofi Kingston over a decade to become a World Champion, or 15 plus years for Bobby Lashley or Cody Rhodes, and WWE shouldn't run into that same problem with someone as talented as Carmelo Hayes.
Winning the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in 2025 was better than nothing, but that has never meant much. All 11 winners have been quickly brushed aside after winning that trophy, and the same happened to Melo.
He spent the rest of 2025 failing to win either the WWE Tag Team Championship alongside The Miz and falling flat in his quest to win the Men's United States Championship.
That should not be the case for 2026. "Melo don't miss" has to be a thing again, with him capturing either the United States or Intercontinental Championship, depending on which brand he ends up.