Apollo Crews shares his thoughts on his return to NXT and potentially returning to the main roster.
Crews made his NXT debut in May 2015, and he was quickly called up to the main roster in April 2016. His first few years on the main roster were inconsistent, but he won the WWE United States Championship in 2020. Crews later got repackaged and went on to beat Big E for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 37. But this run also cooled off, and Crews spent several months of 2022 competing on WWE Main Event without being used much otherwise.
Speaking on Out of Character with Ryan Satin, Crews discussed his return to NXT. After that he wanted more than he had been getting at the end of his time on the main roster, he stated that he sought out an opportunity to go back to NXT, where there was a spot for him. He emphasized that, from the start, his goal has been to make the most of the experience. Crews pointed out that it has been an opportunity to change the course of his career and practically start over with a clean slate.
“I was like man, I’m 100% for it. It was one of those things where it was like, ‘Is it long term or is it gonna be short term?’ Me, honestly, it doesn’t matter. I’m gonna control what I can control. You give me this opportunity, I’m gonna come out here and kill it. If they bring me back to Raw or SmackDown two weeks later, so be it. If they bring me back in two months, so be it. In my head, I wanted to take full advantage of the opportunity that I was being presented with because essentially I was presented the opportunity to kind of change the trajectory of my career and kind of really start over, which not a lot of people get to do. It that this stuff didn’t happen, but we’re almost like, ‘Let’s just wipe that slate clean, and we’re gonna start right here.’ It’s like okay, we’re gonna work on what should have been done the first time," Crews said.
The former WWE Intercontinental Champion then shared his belief that he didn't get enough time to develop in NXT during his first run, but he didn't want to turn down the chance to move to the main roster. He admitted that he didn't know what to expect because everyone has different experiences on the main roster.
"I think when I originally got to NXT and was first signed, I think the time that I got to spend at NXT was just way too short. I don’t think I had enough development as a character, as a TV personality, I wasn’t developed enough. I was not ready to go, but this is something where Triple H himself pulled me aside and was like hey, you’re gonna debut on Raw. This was after Dallas. We did a TakeOver in Dallas, I believe I wrestled Elias for a taping the following week on NXT, which at that time was still on the WWE network. Triple H comes up to me and [he said] I’m going to Raw basically tomorrow. Or WrestleMania was Sunday, and then I was going on Monday. I was like, ‘Wow.’ What do you say? You’re not gonna sit there and be like, ‘No, I think I need to stay down here longer.’ This is the dream. This is what I literally came here for. I didn’t know what to expect, just like signing with NXT. I didn’t know what to expect, moving to the Performance Center or moving to Orlando. You don’t know what to expect, and you hear so many different stories. Even the stories that you hear, it doesn’t matter what anybody tells you. Everybody’s situation is gonna be different. Everybody’s career is gonna be different, the way things happen to people. It’s all gonna be different, so you can’t really base it off of what anybody says," he said.
Crews then circled back to his current run on NXT by emphasizing that he feels blessed with the opportunity to help himself and other talent. He also noted that he believes he has taken full advantage of his return to NXT so far. Crews then stated that, when the time is right, he's hopeful that he can go back to the main roster and compete on premium live events.
"So just being blessed with this opportunity to come over, come down and help myself while helping other young talent as well, it’s a blessing and it’s an honor, and I’m gonna take full advantage of this, which I feel like I’ve done these last six months already. Whenever the time is right, whenever that decision’s made, we can get back, hopefully get back to Raw, SmackDown, get onto premium live events, get on the WrestleManias, the Royal Rumbles, the Survivor Series, the SummerSlams. That’s what I feel like everybody comes here for. They’d be lying if they told you they didn’t," Crews said.
In the same interview, Crews discussed how he worked on his promos with Edge. Check out his comments here.
Shawn Michaels recently stated that there's more to come for Crews in NXT. Click here to see what he had to say.
Check out the card for next week's episode of NXT here.
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