Apollo Crews spoke to Justin Barrasso of Sports illustrated ahead of their next WWE Intercontinental Championship Match against Big E next Sunday Fastlane PPV. Crews talked about his recent character change, wanting to reach the level of Roman Reigns, and the difficulty of being in the main cast.
Working indies for about five years before coming to WWE, Crews recalled how his incredible skills in the ring were able to take him a long way in his professional wrestling career. After going through the NXT, he realized that more would be needed if he were a bigger player in the main WWE squad.
“It was so different in the indies,” recalls Crews. “I did these cool and incredible things in the ring, and my work took me. At the time, I thought it would take me where I wanted to go. I arrived at NXT and had the chance to be myself. So I struggled to find myself in a new environment [on RAW and SmackDown]. This is how it has always been for me. I am naturally shy and it takes me some time to familiarize myself with a new situation. This led me to be a generic guy, so people were not sure about me. I realized this when we were doing live shows. People were not connecting with me, so I really worked to build that connection and reaction from the fans. ”
Crews is now finding that connection as his new WWE persona explores his Nigerian heritage, while turning around and looking for a title.
“This is the right point in my career for character exploration,” said Crews. “Five years ago, as an interpreter, I couldn’t have done that, with the character or the accent, or anything like that. Now I can. And see the reactions. People hate it, people love it. That’s quite nice. I don’t want anyone in the middle. “
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns has also been a focus for Crews as he hopes to one day reach the level of Reigns in WWE.
“Roman does everything so well,” said Crews. “I watched and learned from him. He is the best. Everyone wants to be where he is, so watching him has taught me a lot. I want to be that person who manages to captivate an audience, with an undeniable greatness. This is Roman’s level, and that’s what I’m working on. “
WWE Fastlane next Sunday streams on WWE Network and Peacock at 7 pm ET.