WWE Money in the Bank 2020: 5 Superstars Who Could Replace Apollo Crews

WWE Money in the Bank 2020 will take place on May 10 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on the WWE Network with the kickoff show beginning at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.

Apollo Crews injured his knee in a United States Championship match against Andrade on this week’s WWE Raw and was unfortunately ruled out of the Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match. The following will identify and expatiate five Raw superstars who could replace Apollo Crews in the Men’s MITB Ladder Match.

Ever since Andrade became United States Champion, the booking of the mid card division on WWE Raw has been as shallow as the Arctic Ocean. Ironically, the tides were high on this week’s WWE Raw and the Crews ship has officially sunk as a result.

Hopefully, the Crews ship will be overhauled and ready to batten down the hatches once it returns to the sea. The fish in the sea will desperately await the return of the Crews ship because the sea lacks depth without it and depth of the sea is vital to the dynamics of the fish’s aquatic ecosystem.

The captain of this ship, Apollo Crews, may be in Davy Jones’ locker for now but he will ensure that Andrade walks the plank once he returns. Rest assured, he will find the X that marks the spot, which contains the coveted treasure he must seize for the first time in his career as a sailor.

Nonetheless, the ocean currents must continue flowing and another ship in the sea must replace the Crews ship in an upcoming naval warfare. In order to prevent those currents from reaching a period of stasis, here are five ships that could replace the Crews ship.

5.) Bobby Lashley

Bobby Lashley has been quite dominant in the past few weeks, lifting tires and picking up wins against jobbers from the bull pen. Those jobbers were qualified to be neither relievers nor closers, but it should not stop The Dominator from qualifying for the Men’s MITB Ladder Match.

Considering that the WWE has still not booked a black Mr. MITB in history and Apollo Crews was the only black superstar in the MITB Ladder Match this year who is unfortunately being replaced, inserting Lashley into the MITB Ladder Match wouldn’t hurt, right? As coincidental as this replacement may seem, it is not a means of meeting a racial quota because thinking like that would be overtly myopic.

Instead, it is merely a consolation prize for a superstar who was unjustifiably booked in the mid card since his return in 2018 when he should be fighting in the main event scene. Lashley is long overdue for a main card championship opportunity and winning the MITB Briefcase would provide an expeditious pathway to that opportunity, especially against WWE Champion Drew McIntyre who slayed the Beast that Lashley wanted to slay first.

4.) Jinder Mahal

Jinder Mahal, a former WWE and United States Champion, had returned to in-ring competition on this week’s WWE Raw. Thanks to his 3MB history with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, it would not be too far-fetched to see him replace Apollo Crews in the Men’s MITB Ladder Match, win the briefcase, and cash in on his former comrade to become a two-time WWE Champion.

As pitiful as that may seem for the future of the WWE Championship at face value, there’s no doubt that such a result could make for an entertaining rivalry with the current WWE Champion, Drew McIntyre. It would have been even better if Heath Slater was involved, but he got fired.

3.) Andrade

Andrade is the main reason this article is being published. Imagine if Andrade replaced Apollo Crews in the Men’s MITB Ladder Match and won the MITB Briefcase when he was the one who injured Crews in the first place? What a storyline that would be.

Many naysayers would say that Andrade will not win the MITB Briefcase this year since he is already the United States Champion. If anyone remembers WWE MITB 2010, The Miz was Mr. MITB and United States Champion at the same time, so it’s fair game for Andrade to do the same.

If WWE books Andrade to win MITB, he would still be protected once Apollo Crews returns to dethrone him for the United States Championship. With the MITB Contract in his possession, Andrade would be slated to win a main card championship in the near future so losing Raw’s mid card championship to Crews would not hurt his momentum.

Andrade replacing Apollo Crews would make the most storyline sense out of any possible alternatives and Andrade winning the MITB Briefcase would be the cherry on top. It would be a spit in the face of Crews if Andrade does both and that is exactly why it should be done. Controversy creates cash, and it will get the fans invested in this storyline.

2.) Kevin Owens

A superstar who was very impressed with Apollo Crews’ work on WWE Raw as of late goes by the name of Kevin Owens. Once he solidified his spot as the face and leader of WWE Raw after defeating Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 36, he has not been seen on WWE Raw to date.

Unlike the heel Andrade, the babyface Kevin Owens would be replacing Crews to tribute him rather than to spite him. Considering that he has not been in a main card title picture for over two years now, a MITB victory would help him get back into the title picture where he belongs, especially when pertaining to the WWE Championship.

Unlike the Universal Championship, the WWE Championship has eluded Kevin Owens’ career. Once the babyface Drew McIntyre loses the WWE Championship to a heel superstar, Owens should target that championship next because he has already established himself as the face of Raw and is quite frankly the money in all banks, whether it be Capital One, Valley National, Wells Fargo, etc.

1.) AJ Styles

While the WWE Universe focuses on awaiting Apollo Crews to come back from injury, they should be well aware of AJ Styles returning from the dead. While it is correct to say that the Undertaker literally buried AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36, the Undertaker did not actually ‘bury’ AJ Styles because Styles is now the new Deadman.

Ironically, by defeating AJ Styles in the main event of WrestleMania 36: Night 1 in a show-stealing Boneyard Match, Undertaker indirectly passed the torch to Styles because Styles now has the opportunity to rise up from the dead, just like The Undertaker always does. If Styles does return, he needs a big win and winning the MITB Briefcase would be a phenomenal first for his career.

Unlike the rest of the superstars mentioned earlier, Styles could come back as either a heel or a babyface and still make this work. His storyline has nothing to do with Apollo Crews but he was stuck in the mid card before battling The Undertaker and he should remain in the main event scene after battling The Undertaker.

Winning the MITB contract would keep Styles in contention for the main card championships. Whether he is pitted against WWE Champion Drew McIntyre or Universal Champion Braun Strowman, there will be more phenomenal moments for Styles to add to his resume.