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WWE: It’s awesome to see Apollo Crews is getting a big match in NXT

By Kevin Parvizi

Appolo Crews arrives in the ring during the WWE show at Zenith Arena on may 09, 2017 in Lille north France. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUEN (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images)
Appolo Crews arrives in the ring during the WWE show at Zenith Arena on may 09, 2017 in Lille north France. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUEN (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Next week, Apollo Crews will face Kushida on WWE NXT television, making it his first match with the Black and Yellow brand since April 2016.

Apollo Crews, unfortunately, doesn’t get many chances to shine on the WWE main roster. He’s been a part of Raw or SmackDown Live for over three years, yet he has been given only a handful of title opportunities and no actual championship victories. Even Kevin Owens gave Apollo a shoutout on this week’s episode of SmackDown, reminding everyone that he’s one of the superstars who gets the shaft whenever Shane McMahon takes up precious air time.

But when Apollo does get a match or a segment on the main roster, he shines. Take a look at what he did at the end of 2018 in a Battle Royal No. 1 contender match for the Intercontinental Championship. Heck, he even made a bodybuilding-style pose-off with Bobby Lashley at least somewhat funny by essentially parodying the whole idea of a pose-off in wrestling.

What makes Crews stand out the most, though, is his creativity as a performer. There’s this idea that Crews isn’t charismatic, but it’s a myth perpetuated by people who spit out buzzwords instead of actually watching. And if you watch Apollo, you’ll notice that his comedic timing is excellent. His facial expressions are hilarious. Plus, yes, his moves inside the ring are both smooth and take a high degree of experience and ability to execute.

That’s why it’s so exciting to see that Crews will face Kushida on next week’s episode of NXT. Like Crews, Kushida is also an elite in-ring performer capable of pulling off insane moves and stringing them into a suspenseful match. Like, if there were the perfect opponent for Crews to face as his return match in NXT, then Kushida would be it.

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Aside from the fact that Kushida vs. Crews will undoubtedly be a barnburner, there’s something special about getting to see Crews back in NXT. Part of that is because he didn’t get to have much of a run with WWE’s “Third Brand”, as he was called up relatively early in his career after shining in NXT; he probably had an NXT Championship run in him.

A title reign is unlikely, and it’s unclear how much more we’ll see of Crews in NXT. But based on his match at “Worlds Collide” against Fabian Aichner or even Tyler Breeze’s return matches to NXT, we should definitely cherish all the opportunities we get to see Crews wrestle in NXT.

Crews is a performer who should get more chances to showcase his wrestling ability. Just take a look at any of his matches in the last year, including this most recent one against Andrade last week on SmackDown Live. A moonsault off the apron? The man is part genius and part machine.

As much as I’d love to see Crews get near-weekly matches on SmackDown or even a run at the Intercontinental Championship, Vince McMahon has never seemed interested in making that happen.

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So rather than have the guy try to make the most out of what little is given to him, it might be best for Crews to really start to make some noise with a few stellar, lengthy NXT matches against WWE’s biggest up-and-coming stars.

Because honestly, Crews has as much ability as those guys and should be considered a wrestler with huge star potential by WWE, too. Against the likes of Kushida in NXT, Crews could get a chance to definitively show that, and the extra room to breathe in promos shouldn’t hurt either.

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