Apollo Crews looks back on Edge sliding into his DMs and helping him work on his promos.
Crews has previously noted that he didn't get many opportunities to tap into character-based storytelling during his time on the main roster, but he has been able to test himself since he returned to NXT in June 2021. Crews has established himself as one of the brand's top stars, and he headlined NXT Deadline, where he unsuccessfully challenged Bron Breakker for the NXT Championships.
Speaking on Out of Character with Ryan Satin, Crews was asked whether he works on his promo skills in his free time. He responded by noting that he always wants to improve, and he described how Edge helped him with his promos during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Crews looked back on the way the WWE Hall of Famer slid into his DMs on Twitter and starting giving him feedback on his promos using FaceTime.
“Absolutely. I don’t feel like you can ever be good enough, right. So you can always get better, you can always improve on something. I remember working with Edge. During the pandemic, he had contacted a few of us, and I see on my Twitter, Edge just slid in my DMs. I’m like, oh snap [laughs]. I was like no way, this is not real. He had just mentioned that he wanted to, while he was injured with his triceps injury, he was talking about just helping some of the younger guys with promos. So I was like man, he’s an opportunity. Extremely uncomfortable, he’s talking about FaceTiming him once a week, I’m like man, I hate FaceTime. I hate even talking on the phone, but I was like, he’s a man who’s taking his time to help me get better in advancing my career. So I have to do this, right, I have to do it. So we’d be on FaceTime like once a week, and he’d literally be critiquing and giving me advice. I’d send him promo after promo, I mean up to eight to ten promos a day, and he’d watch each and every one of them and be like, ‘I like what you did in the first one. Why don’t you do what you did in the third one here? This part, you should try that in this first one right here, but don’t do this and that.’ You know what I mean? He was literally watching each one and breaking them down," Crews said.
One highlight of his experience working with Edge came when Crews cut his first promo during his run with the Nigerian royalty character. He recalled how Edge gave him a hug because the legend was proud of the way he performed. He stated that he's grateful for the way Edge helped him and others. Crews noted that anyone would be a fool not to capitalize on the opportunity to learn from him.
"I remember after the first promo I had when I had the Nigerian character, I think I was still talking in my normal accent. It was like a two [or] three minute promo, it was the first time I was out there. I come back, and he just gives me a hug. He just was so impressed, so pleased, so just genuinely happy that I went out there and did that because it was really the first time I had been tested like that, to go out there and talk. After seeing the work that we had done, here’s, I don’t want to say a final product, but here’s a product of everything that he had helped me with. I think he was just genuinely happy to see me, not only get that opportunity, but to go out there and just kill it. I have nothing but great things to say about him, and I’m very grateful that he reached out and wanted to help, not just me but some of the other guys advance, and just be better. You have someone like that, who’s done everything here, and here he is, reaching out to us to kind of pass some of the game along, right. How do you pass up on that opportunity? You’d be a fool if you didn’t take that opportunity, I don’t care who you are," Crews said.
Crews made it clear that he still enjoys working on promos, and he continues to look for advice because he believes he's not at the top of his game yet. He then described how he gets feedback from his wife. Crews joked that it can be difficult to take her criticism, but he appreciates the perspective she brings to the table.
"I do still love to work on promos because what I think is good may not actually be good, so I still seek that advice. I don’t think that my game is fully polished, just completely top of my game type level, and I recognize that. I feel like that’s a strength, that I can recognize the weaknesses and work on those to make them better. So I’ll try to get advice from my wife, who’s not the hugest wrestling watcher, so it’s getting that different perspective from somebody who doesn’t really understand what’s going on, but getting that perspective [where] she can see things in a different way than somebody who’s an actual life or a wrestler. It’s kind of like, ‘Well, you did this here, and it doesn’t seem authentic.’ At first, it’s hard taking that kind of criticism from your wife. You’re like, ‘Man, what does she know? She doesn’t know anything.’ [laughs] Then I sit back and I really think, and I’m like man, she’s 100% right, and it’s nice to have that. I think everybody should have someone who can be 100% honest with you and kind of guide you along that line. It keeps your ego in check and lets you that everything you do isn’t perfect because it’s not," Crews said.
The former WWE Intercontinental Champion emphasized that he's always focusing on improving, as he's hungry for growth. He stated that he's eager to keep getting better, as he knows that not everything he does is perfect.
"I know for me, not everything I do is perfect. When I come back and they’re like, ‘This is great, great job.’ I’m like okay, but what can I work on to make it even better? That’s just my mentality now. I’m always trying to get better. Whatever I’m doing, I always want to get better, and I’m always hungry because I don’t feel like you can never be too good," he said.
Shawn Michaels stated that there's more to come from Apollo Crews after NXT Deadline. Check out his comments here.
Crews recently looked back on his return to NXT. Click here to see what he had to say.
Check out our coverage of this week's episode of NXT here.
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