10 WWE Wrestlers Lost In The Shuffle

6. Apollo Crews

wrestlers lost in the shuffle
WWE.com

There are few wrestlers to have had as weird a year as Apollo Crews.

Floundering following lots of losses to Big E in Intercontinental Championship battles, Crews took on a new heel persona as somebody inorganically connected to his Nigerian heritage, and linked up with Commander Azeez at WrestleMania to finally secure the secondary strap.

The "Nigerian Drum Fight" wasn't much to write home about in truth, but it at least reflected a bit of sustained attention from WWE's creative team. Crews barely had any angles of note with the belt before falling to an in-form Shinsuke Nakamura shortly before SummerSlam, and he's been marginalised by bland tag team and singles losses ever since.

Crews has had problems emoting before, but the strange character twist helped him find a voice - even if that voice was suddenly miraculously different to the one he'd spoken with since arriving in NXT back in 2015. With little spotlight on it, this latest run is starting to feel troubling like another failed endeavour.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett