Carmelo Hayes & Wes Lee Made History On NXT, Joe Gacy/Ava’s Original Plans For The Schism
Carmelo Hayes and Wes Lee made history last night on WWE NXT Heatwave.
The NXT Title match between Hayes and Lee was the first time two black wrestlers competed for the coveted prize.
Following his successful title defense against Lee, Hayes said the following in a backstage interview:
“Wes Lee…freakin’ Wes Lee, man. He was one of the greatest North American champions for a reason. That kid’s got so much fight in him. I just want to say shout out to Wes Lee because tonight, I don’t know if you knew this, but him and I made history. It was the first ever main event with two black men for the NXT Championship here. It was a special moment for me, but I didn’t take my eyes off the prize. I left a lot of questions on the table as to how I was retaining my title. But tonight, I gave everybody the answer they were looking for — and that is, I am HIM.”
Was an honor to make history with one of the best in the world @WesLee_WWE 🙏🏾 https://t.co/lH0YesvAZO
— Carmelo Hayes (@Carmelo_WWE) August 23, 2023
On a recent edition of the “Out of Character” podcast, Joe Gacy revealed the original idea that he and Ava Raine had for The Schism when they formed the group.
Gacy revealed to have thought of the idea even before NXT 2.0 was launched. He said,
“Funny story about Ava Raine. Before I debuted on TV, me and her got together and came up with this idea of a cult group. Originally, it was me, her and this other guy. We were pitching for us…the original idea was almost a House of 1000 Corpses type family with a culty edge. Things didn’t work out exactly and then [NXT] 2.0 started and that maybe changed some ideas. When 2.0 happened, I feel that idea went out the window because it was an overhaul repackaging of the brand itself. I guess the idea of her and me joining together was put on the backburner. When it was me, Rip, and Jagger, she came up to me at the PC and said, ‘Did you hear what is going to happen?’ ‘No.’ ‘I’m going to join you guys.’ ‘That’s awesome’ since originally it was going to be me and her trying to do something anyway. I’m glad it finally panned out on TV. She was a big part of the beginnings of the idea.”
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