Report: Carmelo Hayes Was Originally Scheduled To Regain WWE United States Title Before 946 Plans

Different plans were originally on the agenda for Carmelo Hayes in 2026 before the company pivoted to him linking up with 946.

According to False Finish, Hayes was originally slated to defeat Trick Williams to win the WWE United States Championship for the second time. When exactly that title change would have taken place is unknown but Hayes had been involved in the United States Title picture on SmackDown since December 2025 when he won the belt from Ilja Dragunov, with Hayes holding the title for 98 days until he dropped the championship to Sami Zayn in March 2026. Hayes' most recent match was him unsuccessfully challenging Baron Corbin for the United States Title on the August 14 episode of SmackDown.

Trick Williams is currently in his second reign as WWE United States Champion, having regained the belt from Baron Corbin on the September 6 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event.

False Finish noted that Carmelo Hayes had been locked in to become a member of 946 since July, with the former NXT Champion being added to the group at the request of Royce Keys, who was also behind OTM being in the faction.

946 have promptly cemented themselves in the main event picture of Monday Night Raw and False Finish noted that WWE officials feel Royce Keys and co. have "knocked it out of the park" since debuting on the August 24 episode of Raw.

Carmelo Hayes officially joined 946 on October 12, making the save for Royce Keys from a Solo Sikoa Samoan Spike, with 946 then laying out Sikoa and The Usos to end Raw standing tall.