Carmelo Hayes Wins NXT Title vs. Bron Breakker at 2023 NXT Stand & Deliver

Carmelo Hayes defeated Bron Breakker at Stand & Deliver on Saturday afternoon to become NXT champion for the first time.

Hayes countered out of Breakker's military press powerslam and hit a facebreaker on the champ. That was the prelude to his Nothing But Net finisher.

The two men have seemingly been on a collision course since NXT 2.0 launched in September 2021, as they were both immediately pushed to the top of the brand and tabbed as future top stars in WWE.

And it didn't take long for either man to win gold, as Hayes took the North American Championship in October 2021 and Breakker became NXT champion in January 2022.

Hayes would go on to become a two-time North American champion and Breakker a two-time NXT champion, but they had never competed against each other in a televised match until Saturday.

After Melo beat Apollo Crews once and for all and Breakker defeated Grayson Waller in a steel cage match at Vengeance Day in February, it became clear they were headed for the main event of Stand & Deliver.

For good measure, Hayes subsequently won singles matches against JD McDonagh and Tyler Bate, and Breakker had one more successful title defense against former WWE champion Jinder Mahal.

Then, at Roadblock on March 7, they had an in-ring confrontation shortly after Breakker and the Creed Brothers took down Indus Sher in a six-man tag team match.

While Hayes has gained a reputation for being a cocky and devious heel, there was seemingly nothing but respect between him and Breakker when they announced their Stand & Deliver match.

Hayes noted that he had been keeping a close eye on Breakker and was biding his time before finally seizing the opportunity to challenge him.

Meanwhile, Breakker said he had always been a bit disappointed when someone stepped up to challenge him and it wasn't Melo, but he was thrilled to finally have a chance to test himself against the former North American and cruiserweight champ.

Most fans assumed the winner of Saturday's match would carry on as the face of NXT and the loser would get called up to the main roster, and it does seem likely Breakker is in line for a move to Raw or SmackDown now that Hayes has beaten him for the top prize in NXT.

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