WWE NXT jumped on to kick-start the year perfectly with a jam-packed New Year’s Evil 2024 from the WWE Performance Center. Given the stacked match card and speculations, multiple title matches and a few other high-stakes clashes would be a must-see.

That said, a major last-minute change in one of the high-voltage matches seems to be on the card with Ilja Dragunov losing his spot tonight due to medical non-clearance amidst an injury.

Carmelo Hayel will seemingly replace Ilza Dragunov in NXT New Year’s Evil tonight 

Trick Williams cashed in his Iron Survivor Challenge contract to lock horns with Ilja Dragunov one-on-one with the NXT Championship on the line and the match was originally advertised for tonight. But unfortunately, that won’t be the case anymore as the latest report suggested that Dragunov is already out of the picture, being deemed as unfit.

So, it begs the obvious question: who could take up his place in today’s match? Well, it seems like the potential replacement will be no other than Carmelo Hayes.

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‘He will put up his No 1 Contender shot tonight’ as per WWE’s official Twitter breaks.

We need to see how the altered match pans out for the 29-year-old in the next few minutes.

However, Karmelo Hayes holds Ilza Dragunov in pretty high regard.

It seems Carmelo Hayes hasn’t faced anyone quite like Ilja Dragunov in his entire career. The two top NXT acts, Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov first butt heads with each other in a trilogy over the NXT Championship. Hayes got the upper hand retaining the title in their first battle at NXT Great American Bash with Trick Williams involved.  However, Dragunov evened the score coming out victorious at NXT No Mercy and at NXT Halloween Havoc back to back.

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From a couple of encounters, Hayes grew a deep sense of respect for his fellow competitor.

Carmelo Hayes spoke highly of Ilza Druganov in a recent video

During a recent interview with Vibe, Hayes explained what it feels like to be on the opposite end of the ring with  “The Mad Dragon.”

He noted out of every single opponent that he came across, especially putting his NXT Championship on line, the most formidable one was Druganov. Although he admitted each of his challengers was pretty tough, then when it came to Ilza Druganov, he’s just of a different breed. He wasn’t so sure about coming out victorious or even alive whenever going on a battle with the 29-year-old.

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What’s your take on Carmelo Hayes potentially replacing Ilza Druganov in a massive title match in NXT tonight? Let us know in the comments.