Carmelo Hayes Criticizes Armchair Critics Who Dismiss New Main Roster Talent as “Jobbers”

Carmelo Hayes wrapped up his NXT tenure with a loss to Trick Williams and wasted no time making an impact on SmackDown during the opening night of the 2024 WWE Draft. Even then, some believe he isn’t a great talent and now Hayes has criticized armchair critics who dismiss new main roster talent as ”jobbers.”

While speaking to Denise Salcedo, Carmelo Hayes was asked about receiving social media criticism and how he deals with it. He talked about the challenges of dealing with social media criticism, especially as a new talent on the main roster.

The former NXT Champion acknowledged that while fans have the right to voice their opinions, it’s important for wrestlers to stay grounded and remember the hard work it takes to reach their level.

Hayes also criticized the tendency of armchair critics to label wrestlers as “jobbers” or claim they’re “buried” if they don’t immediately become champions. He stated that success in wrestling is a marathon, not a sprint, and that he’s focused on continuing to improve and learn as he progresses in his career.

“Yeah, I mean, sometimes it’s hard not to see it. We all have a stat where we all kind of, you know, especially when you open the app and the first thing you see is criticism, which is okay. You know what I mean? Like, the fans are allowed to have their criticism and things like that, especially in sports and entertainment. You open yourself up to that, and it’s okay. But at the end of the day, you have to know who you are, what you stand for, and what it took to get to this level.

There are so many things people would never understand that happen behind the scenes and the hard work we put in to get to this level. Also, you know how difficult it is to do what we do. I think it’s easy to sit and armchair quarterback—we all do it with every sport or TV show—we say, ‘I would have done this differently,’ or ‘It should have been this or that.’ But until you’re in that person’s shoes, you’ll never truly understand.

But I’m open to all the criticism and the critique. I don’t really hear it because I force myself to get better anyway, and these are all things that people say that I’ve already told myself. You think I haven’t struggled with doubt on my own? But I just continue to be him, continue to progress, and keep learning. I’m still so new to this main roster thing. You know what I mean? People think if you’re not Champion or you’re not beating everybody in the first two months, you’re a failure, you’re buried, or you’re a jobber. That’s the new thing, right? Everybody’s a jobber, everybody’s buried. So, we’re on a journey, y’all. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

Carmelo Hayes is currently on a roll thanks to his feud with Andrade on Friday Night SmackDown. Therefore, it is quite clear he couldn’t care less what his critics have to say as his star continues to shine bright.

Do you believe new main roster talent get far too much needless criticism? Sound off in the comments section below!

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