“Like a Fever Dream” : Former NXT Champion Reveals How Working With The Undertaker Brought Out the ‘Kid’ in Him

The Undertaker returned to WWE a few weeks back on NXT. This was a way for WWE to draw away wrestling fans’ attention from their competitors AEW onto NXT. Turns out, that’s not the only purpose The Phenom’s presence served. In fact, his return left a former NXT Champion feeling excited.

The Undertaker has largely stayed away from the ring since retirement in 2020. He made an appearance on RAW’s XXX earlier this year and then made his way to NXT a few weeks ago, to help NXT overcome AEW Dynamite in Tuesday Night ratings war.

The Undertaker makes the former NXT champion feel like a ‘kid’

The former NXT Champion, Carmelo Hayes recently opened up about his experience of working with The Undertaker on NXT. As a kid, Hayes must have grown up watching Mark Calaway’s scary gimmick on the screen. So, as an adult, his childhood dream was coming true.

He began by telling Chris Van Vliet on his podcast, “It was like a fever dream, man. It’s funny, a lot of people hit me up the day after and that night. I almost couldn’t believe that it happened.” After this, Hayes moved on to confess that for one moment, he convinced himself to act normal as a ‘professional’. However, there was also a moment when he became a kid. “I was a little kid and I’m like ‘Shoot! This is freaking cool, man! This is really cool,‘” revealed Hayes.

Even though he didn’t get to win a match against his childhood hero, Hayes swore in the podcast that he would ‘never’ forget this day.

The Undertaker’s iconic WWE return

The moment that Hayes recalled while talking to Vliet was the one when Mark Calaway returned to WWE on October 10, 2023. The superstar pulled up during the NXT episode that day to capture everyone’s attention. Despite his most famous gimmick being the ‘Deadman’, he still showed up as the ‘American Badass’. He even teased his fans with some in-ring action by choke-slamming Bron Breakker.

READ MORE:- Former NXT Champion Reflected Back to His Lifetime Experience of Sharing the Ring With The Undertaker: ‘It Almost Became My Career’

After his return had excited everyone, The Undertaker even interacted backstage. This resulted in a few wholesome moments. Apart from Hayes’ heartwarming comments on the WWE Hall of Famer, a video on ‘X’ was posted a week later. In this video, we can see Taker sharing an adorable moment with a young fan dressed up as him.

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Were you also as excited as Hayes upon seeing Taker in the live event? Comment your thoughts below.