Apollo Crews: The Long Anticipated Success Story

Since his NXT debut in 2014, Apollo Crews has been positioned to become a marquee superstar in WWE. The former independent star quickly rose to prominence in his developmental run, signing his contract in front of a live audience alongside William Regal and quickly finding himself featured in feuds against top-tier talent such as Finn Balor, Baron Corbin and Tyler Breeze. It wasn’t long before Apollo was on the road to the main roster, as he was named a surprise call-up on the RAW after WrestleMania 32, earning a name for himself by picking up some significant wins and well on the path to fulfilling the high expectations as he progressed through the ranks.

Success wasn’t exactly on the cards for Crews in the long-term as he was soon lost in the shuffle of the brand split and failed to ever be capitalised on as a singles star. His various runs as a tag performer and occasional short-lived pushes made him a certified background character to most of WWE’s main programming, having never won a championship across all of WWE’s brands and failing to get over in a way that would propel him into the main event scene.

It wasn’t until recently that Apollo Crews finally started hitting his stride, having now ascended to the top of the mid-card and capturing his first singles title on Monday Night RAW in such a short time. It seems that WWE are finally letting Apollo run with the ball, during a time where the roster is somewhat diminished by the global pandemic. Whether this will end up being another short-lived push that just happens to include some championship gold will soon be made clear, but for now we can enjoy seeing Crews make the most of his time in the spotlight and bringing a new level of passion to the squared circle as he embarks on the singles run of his career.

It’s almost criminal that it’s taken WWE over six years to finally give Apollo Crews the opportunity to become a credible star. The wrestler, formerly known as Uhaa Nation, found a fair amount of success while performing in renowned indie promotions like Ring of Honor and Dragon Gate. Uhaa made his name as a capable high-flyer and started turning heads when given the award of ‘Rookie of the Year’ in Dragon Gate USA and being considered for the same credit by Wrestling Observer News.

Nation would jump between factions and excel in matches against future colleagues Johnny Gargano, Ricochet and Rich Swann. Uhaa would eventually challenge for Dragon Gate’s top title but never quite managed to walk away with the win. Despite that, he made a huge name for himself and became a huge blip on WWE’s radar. It wasn’t long before he was snapped up with a developmental contract.

Now going by the name Apollo Crews, he would make his in-ring debut at NXT: TakeOver Brooklyn, defeating Tye Dillinger in a fairly competitive singles match. Crews remained true to himself and never took on any form of gimmick, letting his in-ring work do the talking as he rose through the ranks of NXT. Some might consider this to be the first step in WWE’s failure to capitalise on Crews in his first few years. Fast-tracking him to the main roster might have seemed like a quick-fix to turning him into a main event attraction, but it essentially pulled the rug out from underneath him as he was starting to reach for the brass ring in NXT.

I’m not saying that every successful export from NXT needs to have had an NXT Championship reign to make them a star, but it certainly would have helped establish Crews as someone on the same level as the likes of Neville, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. There was nothing to sell Apollo to the more casual audience, those who aren’t exactly looking for the purest of technical wrestling. There’s no surprise that Apollo was quickly demoted to the undercard, rarely getting wins of his own and seemingly destined for the role of an enhancement talent for the foreseeable future.

It wasn’t until the Titus Worldwide tandem that Apollo Crews was given ample TV time. His partnership with Titus O’Neil might not have been the most groundbreaking of runs for Crews, but it certainly gave him something to work with. He and Titus had a charm to them, something that allowed them to go over several teams on episodes of Main Event and Superstars. Of course, they never picked up championship gold but they were at least a regular feature. They even managed to collect a couple of upset victories over RAW Tag champs Sheamus and Cesaro during early 2018, which were quite possibly Crews’ biggest wins since coming to the main roster.

After the duo went their separate ways, Apollo was once again relegated to catering, occasionally showing up for a Royal Rumble or battle royal but never being given much to work with. Then, all of a sudden, as if Vince McMahon had just remembered of Apollo’s existence, he was booked into an incredible singles match against Aleister Black on the RAW after WrestleMania 36. From this performance alone, Apollo was able to pick up some traction and work his way up the mid-card. Crews’ in-ring work once again allowed him to prevail and remind everyone that he is in fact a formidable athlete.

Crews eventually found himself sparring with Andrade and being scheduled for the Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match. Despite a kayfabe injury, his momentum just kept building. Apollo finally managed to score the biggest win of his career over Andrade on last week’s episode of RAW, securing his first United States Championship reign. Crews seems to now be issuing challenges to fellow stars looking for a big break, most recently providing Kevin Owens with an opportunity to vie for the title. This is a great move for Apollo, letting him rely on his ring skills to keep him over with the fans and slowly build his resume as a future main eventer.

Apollo could very well become the biggest breakout star of 2020, alongside the likes of Otis and Asuka, depending on how their singles careers fare for the rest of the year. It’s about damn time that WWE start revving the motors and rocket strap him into the main-event scene, if anything, we need someone like Apollo to give us a success story worth becoming invested in. Much like Kofi Kingston in 2019, Crews could stick it to WWE in more ways than one, showing his worth as a marquee star and finally living up to the potential that we have always seen in him.