4 Ups And 3 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (Oct 21)

2. Who Is Apollo Crews?

If there was only one complaint to be had about Apollo Crews being positioned as the #1 Contender to the NXT Championship, it's that the audience hasn't had a chance to get to know him yet. He's still a little vanilla on the mic, and rushing someone up the card without giving the audience the opportunity to connect with them only breeds disinterest and, occasionally, resentment. Just ask Roman Reigns or, Apollo's perennial comparison, Bobby Lashley. There are already rumbling of Crews being seen as 'boring' by the IWC. Well, NXT are seeking to put the kibosh on that and falling back on the tried and true formula they used to put over Finn Balor in his title shot run-up. They're giving Crews the 'Who Is ?' treatment. Before Balor took on Owens, he had been more than a little wooden on the mic, and with Owens fighting John Cena every week, there weren't many opportunities for Balor and Owens to collide, so NXT produced a 3-part documentary called 'Who Is Finn Balor?', charting the rise the of Irish superstar, celebrating his indy career rather than burying it. The doc looked at his time in Japan, his upbringing in Ireland, the countless hours he's spent on the road. There were testimonials from his friends, some of which ended with proud tears, it was all very sentimental, but it really served to flesh out Balor as a character. It made him seem that much more human for the people watching at home. Ditto Crews. Part 1 of 'Who Is Apollo Crews?' aired last night and was focused on his family and getting started in the business. The doc covered his parent's divorce, Crews wiping tears from his eyes when talking about his mother, and how hard he pushed himself to prove his father wrong about his career. It painted him as a humble, earnest man of driven ambition. It's an effective strategy and hopefully it will silence some of Crews' early critics.