5 Biggest Winners & Losers From WWE SmackDown Live (July 26)

3. Apollo Crews

Apollo Crews is the perfect example of a wrestler who could have benefitted from a longer stint in NXT prior to his main roster call-up. Since debuting on the post-WrestleMania Raw, Crews has visibly struggled on the bigger stage, and while this is more down to poor booking and a lack of engaging stories more than Apollo’s own failings, it’s clear that he’s not the finished article.

Crews’ in-ring work has always been fine, but he suffers elsewhere. Even in NXT, Crews was a step or two behind his colleagues on the microphone, and on the main roster, his character has been reduced to “guy who stands around and smiles a lot.” WWE Creative have really struggled to get him over, but they took some steps in the right direction this week.

Crews badly needs momentum, and he’s not going to get it from tedious 50/50 feuds like those he’s been involved with thus far. He’s not particularly charismatic and struggles with interviews, so at this point, WWE’s possible option is to feature him as an awesome in-ring competitor above all else. Crews is a freakishly athletic powerhouse with a great look, and having him win the show-opening battle royal was a smart booking decision, and a nudge in the right direction for Crews’ career trajectory.

He was never likely to win the main event, but Crews looked strong throughout, and little things like the announcers diving into his backstory will go a long way to building his popularity without exposing his mic work. WWE did Crews a solid hand last night: more weeks like this, and he’ll be a strong SmackDown roster member very quickly.