5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Aug 13)

Downs...

3. A Push That Was On Life Support

Apollo Crews didn't even get an entrance.

The then-Intercontinental Champ was dead in the water as soon as that happened. Anybody who has watched WWE long enough knows how they roll - wrestlers they're uninterested in don't get the usual perks wrestlers they are into do. Crews was always losing his belt here.

Michael Cole can claim that Apollo "celebrates everywhere" as champ all he likes, but WWE's push slowed as soon as he won the title at WrestleMania 37, and it didn't pick back up or reflect his comment. Here's the thing: WWE taking the belt off Apollo after 125 days and putting it on Nakamura is fine. What isn't fine? Making him look like a jobber for months before dropping it.

Crew deserved better than this. He put everything he had behind the initially-goofy 'Nigerian Prince' gimmick, and he even excelled in that feud with Big E despite hokey bouts like the 'Nigerian Drum Fight'. This was a sorry end to his all-too-temporary relevance on SmackDown.