WWE SmackDown 5/24/2024: 3 Things We Hated And 3 Things We Loved – Wrestling Inc.

The WWE Tag Team Championships have sort of been sitting on the backburner since WrestleMania, and in all honesty, it makes sense. These past weeks of “WWE SmackDown” have been primarily focused on building up the King and Queen of the Ring tournament (and when they tried to fit a tag team title storyline into one of those episodes, I ripped it a new one). So when Grayson Waller and Austin Theory decided to try and make themselves and their titles relevant again on an international edition of The Grayson Waller Effect, I was skeptical.

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If you’re an avid reader of these pieces: first off, hi! Second off, you’ll know how much I love Carmelo Hayes. So as soon as Hayes showed up to insert himself as the guest star on Waller’s talk show, my interest was immediately piqued. When they started talking, however, my interest slowly waned, and soured into disgust like how milk curdles when left on the counter for too long. Hayes was aligning himself with Waller and Theory, and spoke at-length at how they needed to band together to defend themselves against the predatory and washed veterans who was looking to steal their opportunity. Theory was doubtful of Hayes’ intentions at first, but Waller assured his partner that Hayes had their best interests in mind, and the connection between the two parties was cemented right there.

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In the larger picture, this makes sense — Hayes and LA Knight, the originally slated guest for The Grayson Waller Effect, have had tense interactions in the backstage corridors of a few episodes of “SmackDown” — and, for the record, a Knight/Hayes feud sounds like something I’m 100% interested in. What I’m not interested in is employing the talents (read that in whatever tone you wish) of Waller and Theory to do so.

Full transparency, Hayes is leagues above Waller and Theory. Whether it’s categorized by one’s experiences and feelings after their matches and promos or on-paper accolades, Waller and Theory are not on the same level as Hayes. So, the choice to pair “Him” with the WWE Tag Team Champions feels like it came out of charity, and that Hayes was tasked to give Waller and Theory’s mute-able segment a small ratings boost out of the goodness of his heart. While that’s all fine and good, the “C” in Carmelo does not stand for charity worker.

Combine all of this with the fact that Hayes took an indirect loss because of the downfall of his teammates (which are, again, not on his level), and it just feels like a really weird and convoluted way to foreshadow a feud between Knight and Hayes. If this was a six-man tag that came after Knight and Hayes have already had a more salient feud behind them, and this was just an added bonus, then it would’ve been at least a bit more excusable. It all just feels like it was mushed together — Waller and Theory aren’t too popular, so throw in number-one-draft-pick Hayes in there with them, and hope that people don’t use the match as a bathroom break.

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Hayes is not Amy Grant. There is little reason for him to go out of his way to give Waller and Theory their three wishes.

Written by Angeline Phu