10 Wrestlers Who'll Become WWE Champions For The First Time In 2017
4. Apollo Crews
SmackDown has stood-out from Raw in a number of different ways since the Brand Split kicked in, and the blue brand has generally done a far stronger job of building brand-wide roster credibility since July. Almost everyone feels important and purposeful on Tuesday nights, and with guys like The Miz and Heath Slater looking stronger than ever before, SmackDown’s writers have done an excellent job in elevating previously struggling talent.
Apollo Crews is the exception to this. The former Dragon Gate standout has struggled for any kind of consistency since transitioning from NXT, and he’s currently lost on SmackDown. Crews rarely appears, and when he does, it’s either to smile at somebody backstage or partake in a meaningless midcard match with zero consequences. He’s like driftwood in the WWE talent pool, but it can’t go on much longer, and 2017 should see him elevated.
SmackDown’s midcard is too threadbare to keep Crews sidelined for much longer. The IC Title division is incredibly low on talent, and if Crews is handled correctly in the new year, there’s a strong chance he captures the gold at some point. It’ll take some serious work, but if they push the man’s outrageous athleticism to the forefront and lock him into a couple of rock solid storylines that allow him to develop a personality for the first time in his WWE career, Crews can be an upper-midcard star.