WWE: Apollo Crews talks winning Intercontinental Title, addresses criticism of his character
In the span of three months, Apollo Crews went from being a happy-go-lucky babyface on WWE SmackDown to an intense, no-nonsense heel holding the Intercontinental Championship.
His long-running rivalry with Big E finally came to a head on Night 2 of WrestleMania 37 when they did battle in a Nigerian Drum Fight and Crews pulled out the victory, becoming the new Intercontinental champion in the process. It marks Crews’ first run with the title since debuting on the main roster five years ago this month.
He’s on another level when it comes to his character and promo work at the moment, but his heel turn hasn’t come without criticism. The Nigerian accent he’s adopted in recent weeks hasn’t been well-received by a majority of WWE fans, and although the focus on his family background has been appreciated, the clearly-faux accent has been more of a hinderance than a help.
Otherwise, he’s been on the hottest streak of his WWE career and has a ton of his upside. Following his huge title win, the new Intercontinental champion spoke to Daily DDT in character (accent and all) about getting his WrestleMania moment, why we haven’t seen his side of him before recently, SmackDown Superstars he hopes challenge him, and more.
Apollo Crews comments on becoming Intercontinental champion and his WrestleMania match with Big E
Crews received several shots at the Intercontinental title leading up to WrestleMania, but all of his shortcomings were well worth it for the moment of him becoming champion on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
“This is something I told everyone this would happen and I did it, so it feel like there’s a celebration in order for me,” he said. “I deserve a big, big celebration. Maybe even a parade. I think it’s time for that. Everybody should rejoice and everybody should be ready to celebrate with me, whenever that time comes.”
After scratching and clawing his way to the top for years, Crews feels his hard work and dedication is finally paying off and that he’s deserving of this opportunity. He’s well aware that a lot has changed for him in such a short time and hopes that people are starting to see how great he truly is.
Regardless of how feel about him, there can be no doubt that Crews is one of WWE’s very best pure athletes. Being overlooked since arriving on WWE’s main roster in April 2016 made his WrestleMania moment last weekend that much sweeter.
“I dreamed of this moment as a kid,” he admitted. “For me to get that opportunity is something that will live on forever. My kids are young now, three-years-old and two, but this is something I will tell them about when they are old enough to understand it. This is something you can’t even put into words and it feels fantastic. This is the moment I’ve worked my whole life for and to win a title with such prestige makes it that much better.”
Interestingly enough, his recent rivalry with Big E has been his first feud of any kind on the main roster. He had his fair share of run-ins with The Hurt Business last year, but otherwise, he’s never been a focal point on either Raw or SmackDown up until now.
Their storyline has been among the most compelling on SmackDown in 2021 and has been a breath of fresh air for the Intercontinental Championship. As strange as it sounds, it isn’t often we see the strap involved in an important angle these days, and both guys have done some of their strongest work to date as a result.
“It’s my first real feud, if you want to call it that,” Crews said. “It may not be the end, but for it to be capped off this way working with Big E for months has been an honor. He brought out a side of me that I never knew existed and now it’s here. I brought out a side of him that I don’t think he knew was there, so we brought the fight to each other and brought the best out of each other. At WrestleMania, the better man won and that was me.”
Their WrestleMania Nigerian Street Fight, which saw the two batter each other with kendo sticks and drums, was easily their most entertaining encounter to date. At only seven minutes in length, it seemed like their time was cut short a bit, but no matter whether it was or wasn’t, they made the most of what they had to work with.
“I feel like we made the best for our time,” he said. “I watched the match twice already and I never felt at one point we were rushed or that we were in a hurry to get to anything. I felt like we took our time and we made the best of every situation. My body was hurting the next day. As a warrior, I went right back to the gym the next day and I go back to work. For me, there’s no stopping.”
Apollo Crews explains why we haven’t seen this side of him before and addresses criticisms of his character
Upon completing his full-fledged heel turn in late February, Crews underwent a complete character overhaul. From his entrance music to his attire to even his accent, everything changed, and that was when fans started to take notice of his new attitude.
Crews took the time to explain why we haven’t seen this side of him before now and why it took turning heel for him to fully embrace his background.
“My parents are both Nigerian,” he said. “By blood, I’m Nigerian, even though I was born here in America. As a kid, as an African, I was always made fun of, so I would always hide that side of me because I was too embarrassed to be that. The older I got, the more I realized it doesn’t matter what people think. I wish I had the mentality that I have now when I was a young kid.”
After years of falling under the radar, he believed he needed to switch things up in order to find success and now he sees who he really is. He added that he’s currently brushing up on the history of his family’s tribe and is learning every day.
His ancestors were warriors and he doesn’t view himself as being any different.
“Embracing this side of me is something that is long overdue, but at the same time, if this was two, three or four years ago, I don’t know if I would have been ready as a performer to be this person,” he said. “Now I know and I understand this is who I have to be and this is who I am. I’m glad I had that eye-opening moment and I was able to embrace that side of my life. I stopped worry about what people said and thought about me. I’m happy to be an African man. I’m happy to be a Nigerian. I’m also happy to be the Intercontinental champion.”
Crews felt he couldn’t always be nice and that needed that extra edge. By taking the chance with his character that he did, he’s now in the midst of the greatest run of his WWE career.
As good of a year as it’s been for him so far, his new heel person has been subject to some controversy, specifically in regards to the Nigerian accent he’s been using in his promos. Despite Crews being of Nigerian descent, it’s been argued that it’s illogical for him to start using an accent after five years of not having one in WWE.
Although the in-character Crews didn’t touch upon the accent specifically, he did respond to the criticisms of his new gimmick and stated he isn’t worried about the negativity.
“It’s funny because before, everybody was saying that Apollo doesn’t have character. Apollo needs a character,” he said. “When I get a character now, they want to hate my character. The way that I look at it, whether it’s good or bad, as long they’re talking about me, it’s good. It does not matter. As long as they’re not neutral and you make a decision whether you like me or you hate me, in a way, I’m okay. Either way, you’re still talking about me.”
Apollo Crews teases more of Uhaa Nation and who he’d like to see challenge him
From Big E vs. Crews to Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair to anything Roman Reigns is involved in, the new Intercontinental champion is proud to be a part of SmackDown the moment. It’s one of the more exciting periods in recent history of the blue brand thanks to the talented roster and how most of the storylines seem to be clicking.
When asked about whether we’ll be seeing more elements of his old Uhaa Nation character from before WWE be incorporated into his current character (as well as what the relationship is between himself and the rechristened Commander Azeez f.k.a. Dabba-Kato), he simply said to keep watching.
“You never know,” he said. “All you have to do is stay tuned. That’s the great thing about professional wrestling. You really never know what can happen. You just have to stay tuned and see what happens. Even I don’t know, but right now, I’m focused on becoming the best Intercontinental champion we’ve ever seen in recent years and making this title reign one to remember and one to go down in history. I’ll let the rest go down by itself.”
As for matches he wants to have as Intercontinental champion, the possibilities are endless looking at the current crop of talent on the SmackDown roster. He specifically named Shinsuke Nakamura and Murphy as opponents he’d love to face, as well as Kalisto who was unfortunately released shortly after the interview took place.
“Cesaro is number one I would say,” Crews said. “Fantastic athlete, same mentality, always working hard and deserving of his WrestleMania moment. Seth Rollins is another one, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn even though I’ve been in the ring with him recently before. The list goes on and on and on.
“As a warrior, I respect the competition,” he continued. “I don’t praise them too much, but I love the competition. I know all of these guys will bring the fight to me and I’ll bring the fight to them the same way. At the end of the day, we go our separate ways and the better man was me, always be standing on top.”
Catch Apollo Crews Friday nights on WWE SmackDown at 8/7c on FOX.