On the October 11th edition of Friday Night SmackDown, Carmelo Hayes challenged for the WWE United States Championship when he faced off with champion LA Knight. With heated rival Andrade El Idolo at ringside, Carmelo would come up short against the champion as Andrade taunted him following the loss.

Ahead of their United States Championship match on the October 11 episode of "WWE SmackDown," Carmelo Hayes trashed LA Knight on social media.

Simmons, aka Faarooq, attended the September 13, 2024, episode of SmackDown alongside Long in Seattle, Washington. They spoke to wrestlers backstage and appeared in the crowd during the show. Long said on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Time Machine that Hayes thanked Simmons for helping him earlier in his career:

On the October 11th edition of WWE Friday Night SmackDown, LA Knight put his United States Championship on the line vs Carmelo Hayes. Hayes earned his opportunity on last week's edition of SmackDown after 'defeating' AJ Styles, who could no longer continue due to injury.

SmackDown on October 11 featured high-stakes matches and pivotal promos, including a Roman Reigns-Jimmy Uso confrontation and intense segments involving Kevin Owens, Cody Rhodes, and Randy Orton. Championship matches highlighted LA Knight retaining his title and Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill defending their WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.