Carmelo Hayes is still United States Champion after his latest open challenge on "WWE SmackDown," and this week, it was the UK's own TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater to get in the ring with "HIM." Slater has appeared on "WWE NXT," and most recently, he teamed with Je'Von Evans against AJ Styles and Dragon Lee at Saturday Night's Main Event.
Slater proved to be a formidable challenger for Hayes, and the pair battled back-and-forth in a fast-paced first half of the match. They traded chops at one point, and Slater looked to wrap things up quickly when he hit a huge cross body to the champion from the top rope. Hayes looked for a Codebreaker, and Slater countered with an attempt to get Hayes into a half-Boston Crab. Hayes then countered into a roll-up, but Slater kicked out.
The pair traded falls, both kicking out at one, until Slater almost had Hayes on his final attempt. The challenger flew over the ring post to take out the champion on the outside. He quickly got Hayes back in the ring and went up top, but missed the Swanton 450 when Hayes rolled out of the way. Hayes hit the First 48, but couldn't keep Slater down.In the end, it was Hayes to hit a big cutter as both men were on the top rope for the victory.
