Ricky Saints Speaks About Working With Carmelo Hayes: “There Are Some Parallels That I Can’t Even Ignore”

Carmelo Hayes and Ricky Saints have had a series of matches.

As of this writing, Ricky Saints and Carmelo Hayes have had three singles matches on Friday Night SmackDown. Both have one win, and there was one bout that was a no-contest.

The matches between them were discussed by Saints during his appearance on Complex Graps.

“So, this is kind of unexpected to be real with you because while I am a fan of Carmelo Hayes in certain aspects — I don’t really like everything that he does — I will say that my man brings it, and so, I don’t think I could’ve had a better opponent for my first time really being on SmackDown and getting my feet truly wet on SmackDown than him, and I have realized for the three matches that we have that there are some parallels between me and him that I can’t even ignore, and I think that makes our chemistry pretty good, and so, when you add in we’re two people vying for the same thing which is the United States Championship, I do like that competitive edge to it because obviously, it’s one thing to win a match but it’s another thing to win a match to go on to something greater which is the U.S. Title…”

Both Saints and Hayes competed in the 2026 King of the Ring tournament and were eliminated in the first round.

If the quote in this article is used, please credit Complex Graps with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.