Carmelo Hayes kicked off his United States Championship reign with a win over Johnny Gargano on “WWE SmackDown.”

Hayes ended Dragunov’s run after seven successful defenses in 63 days during last week’s show, capturing his first title on the main roster before getting attacked by Gargano in a backstage segment to set up this week’s bout. Dragunov had beaten Gargano during his title run, as well as Gargano’s partner Tomasso Ciampa; Hayes and Dragunov teamed to defeat the pair of Gargano and Ciampa the week prior to their US title match. 

Prior to the match, Hayes and Dragunov crossed paths backstage; Dragunov suggested they would have another match somewhere down the line, and asked if Hayes would continue to do the weekly open challenge. Hayes declared that after he had beaten Gargano, he would continue to do it before walking off. 

The match itself saw the debut of new music for Gargano, wrestling a very violent match and making it clear he wanted to hurt his opponent. And there were moments where it looked to have paid off. 

Gargano caught Hayes with a slingshot DDT and avalanche air-raid crash for near-falls, going for the Fairytale Ending – Ciampa’s move – only to get caught with the First Forty-Eight, followed by Nothing But Net for Hayes to get the winning pinfall.