During the December 26, episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Carmelo Hayes defeated Ilja Dragunov to win the WWE United States Title.
On X (Twitter), Ex-WWE star Andrade congratulated Hayes on his victory and noted he deserved the gold, thanking him as well for the matches they had in the Stamford-based promotion.
“Congratulations brother!! @Carmelo_WWE,” Andrade wrote. “You deserve it! Thank you for those great matches!”
Andrade and Hayes notably had an iconic Best of Seven series match on WWE SmackDown back in 2024, which resulted in an eventual triple threat match for the US Title won by LA Knight.
Andrade parted ways with WWE earlier this year after his contract was terminated. After appearing on an episode of Dynamite in October, WWE reportedly sent AEW a cease-and-desist letter, upholding a one-year non-compete clause from Andrade’s contract due to being terminated with cause.
Earlier this month, It was said that his situation was resolved and is now a free agent who is able to sign anywhere.
