3 WWE Stars in Danger, Nikki Bella Winning over Fickle Fans and More Reaction
For as many Superstars who shined at WWE SummerSlam 2025, there are plenty of others who weren't even included in the card and instead find themselves in danger of falling further into obscurity.
Carmelo Hayes is one of those unfortunate individuals who started strong on the WWE main roster last year only to fizzle out following his feud with Andrade. Although the end of his alliance with The Miz is imminent, the damage has been done and there are no guarantees he'll be able to recover quite as quickly.
Meanwhile, Nikki Bella has done exceptionally well since returning to Raw a few weeks back and has settled into a storyline with Becky Lynch over the Women's Intercontinental Championship as of last Monday's Raw. Their segment exceeded expectations and set the stage nicely for a future encounter between the two.
Above all else, the WWE Hall of Famer may finally be winning over the fans with the work she's putting in right now.
From Bella silencing her detractors to the next AEW world tag team champions, these are the top takeaways from the week that was in wrestling.
Carmelo Hayes Is WWE's Most Underutilized Star Right Now
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In not-so-shocking news, WWE gave this year's Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal win to Carmelo Hayes, who has largely been sidelined on SmackDown in the months since.
His "mentor," The Miz, has somehow managed to score more television time than he has and is infinitely more established with the audience.
For someone who was picked first by the blue brand in the 2024 draft, Hayes has little to show for it—and that's entirely the fault of the powers that be.
He was positioned as one of NXT's biggest and brightest stars until he made his move to the main roster. What made him such a top-tier player there should be replicated on SmackDown for the rest of the world to see what he's capable of.
The tease of tension between Hayes and Miz on Friday's SmackDown indicated a split is coming, and the faster he ditches The A-Lister and embarks on his own path to singles stardom, the better off he'll be.
WWE has missed out in a major way by not booking Hayes stronger in the last year or two, but it isn't too late for him to break through to the next level.
How WWE Has Dropped the Ball on 'New' R-Truth
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R-Truth was one of the hottest stories in all of wrestling at the start of the summer, only for WWE to do little to capitalize on his new-found buzz.
Going by his real name of Ron Killings, he had the crowd completely with him when he decided to ditch the comedy routine and go in a more serious direction. Sadly, that lasted all of a few weeks.
Truth promptly returned to doing comedy when he confronted John Cena backstage on Friday's SmackDown and rejoiced over his "childhood hero" being back to his old ways.
There was zero sign Truth will be treated any differently than how he was at the beginning of the year. And although the 53-year-old is in the twilight of his career, he does bring value to the product and should be given a legitimate to chance to show how pivotal to the programming he is.
The potential was there for this character change into something special and arguably WWE wasted no time in dropping the ball on it.
Now, it's difficult to buy into the idea Truth would be anywhere near the main event scene, unless he's taking a beating from Brock Lesnar.
Looking Ahead to Endgame of The Hurt Syndicate as AEW World Tag Team Champs
3 of 5The Hurt Syndicate were a hot topic of conversation among fans online this past week after reports emerged from Fightful Select that not only does MVP have "heat" with Mike Bailey, but the group also hasn't been overly excited to drop the AEW World Tag Team Championship to either FTR or JetSpeed.
That begs the question of who would ultimately be best to dethrone them as champs, and it wouldn't be anyone they've already beaten in the past.
The faction is every bit as dominant as they are popular, but their reign hasn't been the most exciting due to the outcomes of their matches feeling fairly predictable. That doesn't need to be the case with whoever emerges victorious from the finals of the No. 1 Contender's tournament, though.
From a sheer in-ring standpoint, either FTR or Brodido (the duo of Brody King and Bandido) would be excellent choices. Brodido have been an awesome addition to the All Elite Wrestling tag team scene while FTR remain one of the top teams in the world today.
FTR taking the titles would set them up for a massive championship clash with Cope and Christian Cage at All Out next month, but The Hurt Syndicate may not lose the belts to who'd they consider "worthy" opponents until they deem it's necessary.
LA Knight Gets Another Chance at Main Event Glory
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Another week, another high-profile match LA Knight took part in on Raw and lost.
It's been a recurring pattern for The Megastar since late 2023 when he first unsuccessfully challenged Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.
Now, the 42-year-old again finds himself in hot pursuit of a top title, this time on the Raw brand, but the odds of him winning it don't appear to be in his favor.
Knight being Rollins' first World Heavyweight Championship challenger makes perfect sense considering he was the last person to pin him prior to The Visionary cashing in Money in the Bank at SummerSlam and becoming champ.
Thankfully, their Raw encounter was interrupted by CM Punk and didn't end clean, keeping Knight in the main event for a bit longer.
Regardless of whether it will be a six-man tag team match at Clash in Paris or a Triple Threat with the title up for grabs, Knight will likely lose as he always does, and it will become that much harder for fans to buy into him as any sort of a threat.
His popularity has yet to wane, so until it does, he should make the most of every main event opportunity he gets and it's possible he could wind up winning a world championship at long last.
Nikki Bella Proves a Strong Addition to Raw Women's Division
5 of 5Nikki Bella being back in WWE as a regular in the Raw women's division wasn't on many fans' bingo cards, but the experiment has been a pleasant surprise so far, to say the least.
After disappearing following her surprise return in the 2025 women's Royal Rumble match, the WWE Hall of Famer resurfaced in time for Evolution where she was set to be paired off with Liv Morgan before plans were forced to change.
She has since formed an unlikely alliance with Stephanie Vaquer and set her sights on women's intercontinental champion Becky Lynch, with whom she had an excellent exchange on last Monday's Raw.
The appeal of the program is that it doesn't need a title to feel special, yet the fact that they're feuding over a seemingly secondary title is a testament to how coveted it has become. Bella has shown she's improved both in the ring and on the mic, and she has been a natural fit among the current female guard on the red brand.
Lynch losing the belt back to Lyra Valkyria at SummerSlam would have been the appropriate ending to that story, but a Lynch vs. Bella storyline for the foreseeable future isn't a bad consolation prize and is already off to a strong start.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.
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