Carmelo Hayes references Randy Orton amid WWE absence ahead of SmackDown

Carmelo Hayes referenced Randy Orton ahead of tonight's edition of WWE SmackDown. The 30-year-old will be competing in a high-stakes match tonight on the blue brand.

Hayes will be squaring off against Jacob Fatu and Andrade in a Triple Threat Money in the Bank qualifying match tonight on SmackDown. Ahead of tonight's show, Hayes took to social media to make a reference to Randy Orton. He noted that he defeated The Viper last year to qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank ladder match and suggested that anything was possible.

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"Last year I beat Randy Orton to get into this match. Anything is possible!" wrote Hayes.

Randy Orton has been absent from WWE television since Backlash 2025. The Legend Killer challenged John Cena for the Undisputed WWE Championship but came up short after R-Truth got involved in the match.

Cena defeated R-Truth at Saturday Night's Main Event over the weekend and interfered in Jey Uso's World Heavyweight Championship match against Logan Paul. However, Cody Rhodes returned to save the day and will be teaming up with Main Event Jey to battle Cena and Paul at Money in the Bank. Cody Rhodes and John Cena are both scheduled to appear on tonight's SmackDown.

Vince Russo criticizes WWE for Randy Orton's booking

Wrestling veteran Vince Russo recently took WWE to task for how it booked the title match between Randy Orton and John Cena at Backlash.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's BroDown show, Russo claimed that the outcome of the title match at Backlash was too obvious. The legend suggested that the promotion didn't even attempt to make the rivalry interesting ahead of the match.

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"I swear to God, man, everything is so freaking telegraphed. Orton hits Cena with three RKOs in three weeks, so what? You think Orton is gonna beat Cena? It's so telegraphed, Mac. It's like they don't even try to throw you off. Just based on predictability, I don't know why anybody would spend two minutes of their time watching that match. There is no way Orton would ever win that freaking match," he said. [From 10:32 onwards]

You can check out the video below:

Carmelo Hayes is currently in an alliance with The Miz on WWE SmackDown. It will be interesting to see if the former NXT Champion can qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank ladder match later tonight.

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