Lookout, Baron Corbin. Shots have been fired.

Carmelo Hayes is a former WWE United States Champion. On Thursday morning, he put Corbin, who is the current United States Champion, on blast.

Hayes will face Corbin for the championship on this week's episode of SmackDown. Corbin also has another title match this week.

Prior to joining WWE again, Corbin was a tag team champion in MLW. This weekend, he defends those tag titles in a match against The Good Brothers in what was a pre-taped episode of MLW Fusion.

Hayes' shot at Corbin

The Hayes shot at Corbin was rooted in his losing two championships, in two different companies, in the same weekend. Hayes sent the shot at Corbin in a Thursday post on X.

"This dude (Baron Corbin) is gonna be the first guy to lose two titles in two different companies in the same weekend," Hayes wrote in a quote tweet to MLW, which was promoting the match on their socials. Keep making history, bro."

Hayes has been on the WWE main roster since 2024, spending most of his time on the SmackDown brand, and has had memorable feuds with Andrade and Ilja Dragunov.

Hayes was the centerpiece of NXT prior to joining the main roster and had a signature feud for that promotion with Trick Williams, another current SmackDown star and former United States Champion.

Baron Corbin returned to WWE with a vengeance

Corbin has had a tumultuous couple of years in the pro wrestling business. Corbin left the WWE near the end of 2024, as his contract wrapped up on November 1 and the company did not renew it. During his time away from WWE, Corbin worked for Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling, Bloodsport, and other independent promotions in addition to his time in MLW.

On July 10 of this year, Corbin made his return to WWE, interfering with the Trick Williams vs. Carmelo Hayes WWE United States Championship match on SmackDown by attacking both men.

Corbin's first PLE match since returning was on night two of SummerSlam in Minneapolis, whereCorbin defeated Trick Williams to win the United States Championship.

This week's episode of SmackDown emanates from Boston and will feature Tiffany Stratton vs. Jacy Jayne for the WWE Women's United States Championship. The show will also feature a tag team title match and another confrontation between Kevin Owens and CM Punk ahead of their Undisputed WWE Championship match together next week.