Sami Zayn Retains His WWE United States Championship, Defeats Carmelo Hayes on Friday Night SmackDown

Sami Zayn defended his WWE United States title for the second time in two weeks, this time against Carmelo Hayes. He countered Carmelo Hayes’ Nothing But Net into a Blue Thunderbomb to secure the pin over Carmelo Hayes and win the match. With this victory, he now has two victories in three matches in consecutive weeks. His match against John Cena ended in a DQ due to an interruption from Brock Lesnar.

Sami Zayn threw an open challenge last week and defeated Rey Fenix, who was the first one to accept it. He wanted to be a fighting champion, which is when Carmelo Hayes asked him for a match, and he utilized Carmelo Hayes’ catchphrase Melo Don’t Miss and responded, “Alright, Melo, Don’t Miss. They fought tonight for the WWE United States Championship, and Sami Zayn retained his title.

.@Carmelo_WWE was just one step ahead of @SamiZayn! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/xgjLYPrAU6
— WWE (@WWE) September 20, 2025

Sami Zayn vs. Carmelo Hayes, As it Happened

Carmelo Hayes was so confident that he asked The Miz not to cause any interruption to help him during his match against Sami Zayn. He proved himself right by dominating the match initially. It’s hard to keep Sami Zayn down for long.

.@Carmelo_WWE is doing whatever it takes! 👊 pic.twitter.com/mMdpJDIeVh
— WWE (@WWE) September 20, 2025

Sami Zayn was quick to regain the momentum. He delivered a tornado DDT to Carmelo Hayes to start his dominance, but a knee to the face shifted the momentum back towards Carmelo Hayes. Carmelo Hayes tried to close the match with a Frog Slash, but Sami Zayn pulled his knees up to counter. Sami Zayn then went for the Helluva kick, but Carmelo Hayes countered it with a Superkick.

Carmelo Hayes followed it up with a Frog Splash, but Sami Zayn kicked out. He hit Sami with a First 48, but Sami kicked out again. Carmelo Hayes then went for Nothing But Net, which Sami countered with a Boot to the face. He followed it up with a Blue Thunderbomb to pin Carmelo Hayes for a three-count. Sami Zayn now has a title reign of 21 days and counting with this victory.

Also Read: “It’s D-Day Tomorrow, I am Coming For Blood”, Brock Lesnar Sends a Loud Message To John Cena Before Their Match at Wrestlepalooza

Image Credit: WWE.com

Carmelo Hayes

Sami Zayn

Sami Zayn vs Carmelo Hayes

SmackDown before Wrestlepalooza

WWE

WWE Friday Night SmackDown

WWE United State Championship

Ashish Negi

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wrestling

I am Ashish Negi, and I work as a WWE and NFL writer at The Playoffs. I have 5 years of experience in content writing, and I have written in different domains like Real Estate, but I found my love while writing in sports. I love watching sports and have been a fan of WWE and cricket. I got an opportunity to write full-time on WWE and NFL here, so following the footstep of my hero John Cena, I turn heel on my last company