Carmelo Hayes completed his sixth defense of the United States Championship over Matt Cardona during "WWE SmackDown."Hayes had initially intended to defend the title against former champion Ilja Dragunov, with their initial rematch weeks ago marred by interference from The Miz. But Dragunov lost during last week's show to Tama Tonga, and felt like he needed to right that before getting a title opportunity.Thus Cardona answered this week's open challenge in an attempt to hold his first WWE title since the Intercontinental Championship in 2016, having returned to the company just last month shedding the Zack Ryder moniker.Cardona dominated over the champion for much of the first half of the bout, wearing his opponent down with a trip over the announcer's desk and continuous offense to the lower back and arms. Hayes ultimately fired back, firstly with a springboard leg drop to Cardona draped off the top rope, then a springboard splash from the middle rope, followed by La Mistica for a near-fall.Both went up the ropes as Hayes sought Nothing But Net, but Cardona connected with a hurricanrana and came close to winning the title after a Rough Ryder, only getting a near-fall. And Hayes managed to see his challenger off with First 48 and the winning pinfall.
