4 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Aug 20)
2. The Fall Of Apollo Crews
Speaking of backward steps.
Apollo Crews hasn't won a televised match since the 18 June edition of SmackDown. Before that, his last TV win came on 4 June episode when he retained the Intercontinental Title against Kevin Owens. Those seem like halcyon days now, because ex-champ Crews lost the belt last week and just got pinned by Rick Boogs.
Nobody is suggesting that Boogs sucks. He doesn't, but this was his first ever match on the brand, and he handled Apollo with ease. Hell, slick Rick barely broke a sweat when faced with the imposing Commander Azeez. Again, it's like all that hype about the Crews/Azeez twin force never happened earlier this year.
This is sorry fall from grace for Apollo. WWE seem uninterested in giving him one of those automatic rematches for the lost gold, and now they want to put Boogs over at his expense. Where the f*ck does Crews go from here?