7 Ups And 5 Downs From WWE Raw (May 25)

1. New Show, New Beginning, New Champ

Through the years, we’ve seen plenty of underperforming wrestlers jump brands and continue to tread water on their new show, despite promises of a new start and possibly a significant push. With the obvious exception of Jinder Mahal, few superstars truly get elevated by switching brands.

However, Apollo Crews might be able to count himself among those rare superstars, as the veteran under-card wrestler has gotten a chance to showcase his talents the past couple months since jumping to Raw, capped off Monday by winning the United States Championship. It’s his first title in WWE, something that would have been unthinkable a few months ago.

Crews came into NXT with a ton of promise, but was promoted to the main roster before he was ready, and he immediately floundered, spending years alternating between getting a handful of disappointing matches on TV or disappearing from the screen for months at a time.

Apparently, Paul Heyman is a huge fan of Apollo, and if so, this is the likely result. Good for him, as Crews deserves the chance to at least prove himself rather than just being labeled “full of potential” that never gets realized.