He started his career in 2009, originally working under the ring name Uhaa Nation,[4] and made his breakthrough in 2011, when he was signed by the
Dragon Gate USApromotion, which also led to him making his first trip to Japan to work for
Dragon Gate. Standing at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) and weighing 240 lb (110 kg), Uhaa is known both as a
high-flyer and a power wrestler.[9][10][11]
After finishing college, Uhaa quickly got a job in order to pay for his professional wrestling training.[10] He began training at the age of 21 under
Mr. Hughes at his World Wrestling Alliance 4 (WWA4) promotion's training school in Atlanta.[4][10] After making his wrestling debut under the
ring name Uhaa Nation on August 17, 2009,[6] he spent over a year working mainly for small promotions on the Georgian
independent circuit, but also made trips to
Houston,
Texas-based
Pro Wrestling Alliance (PWA) and
Phenix City, Alabama-based Great Championship Wrestling (GCW),[6][13] often working with fellow WWA4 trainee
AR Fox.[14]
Dragon Gate and affiliates (2011–2015)
On September 9, 2011, Uhaa took part in a tryout seminar held by the
Dragon Gate USA promotion.[4] He was immediately signed for appearances for not only Dragon Gate USA, but also its parent promotion, Dragon Gate, and close affiliates
Evolve and
Full Impact Pro (FIP).[4] He made his wrestling debut for Dragon Gate USA later that same day, defeating Aaron Draven in a
squash match.[15] Uhaa made his
pay-per-view debut the following day at
Untouchable 2011, where he answered
Brodie Lee's open challenge and dominated him, before Lee left the ringside area.[16] The following day at Way of the Ronin, Uhaa defeated Facade, Flip Kendrick and Sugar Dunkerton in a four-way match.[17] On October 29, Uhaa made his first appearance for Full Impact Pro, when he defeated Jake Manning for FIP Florida Heritage Championship.[18] Uhaa then entered a storyline, where different Dragon Gate USA
stables tried to recruit him to join them.[19] On November 30, Uhaa made his Japanese debut for Dragon Gate, during an event produced by the
villainous Blood Warriors stable. Uhaa defeated Kotoka in a match that lasted 99 seconds, establishing himself as the newest member of Blood Warriors in the process.[20] For the rest of the tour, which lasted through December 25, Uhaa worked alongside the Blood Warriors stable, winning every one of his matches.[21][22] At the end of 2011, Dragon Gate USA named Uhaa the Best Newcomer of the year.[4] He also finished second behind
Daichi Hashimoto in Wrestling Observer Newsletter's award category for
Rookie of the Year.[23]
Upon his return to the United States, Uhaa made his debut for Evolve on January 14, 2012, with a win over Pinkie Sanchez.[24] When
Akira Tozawa took over the leadership of Blood Warriors from
Cima and renamed the group
Mad Blankey, Uhaa Nation followed along to the renamed stable.[4] Uhaa made his first appearance representing Mad Blankey at a DGUSA event on March 29, when he and stablemates Akira Tozawa and
BxB Hulk defeated Ronin (
Chuck Taylor,
Johnny Gargano and
Rich Swann) and D.U.F. (
Arik Cannon, Pinkie Sanchez, and
Sami Callihan) in a three-way trios match.[25] However, during the match, Uhaa suffered a knee injury, which sidelined him for a year.[26] Uhaa returned to the ring on February 1, 2013, at Full Impact Pro's Everything Burns iPPV, where he successfully defended the FIP Florida Heritage Championship against Chasyn Rance.[27] On March 2, Uhaa returned to Japan and Dragon Gate, when he and BxB Hulk defeated
Don Fujii and
Masaaki Mochizuki for the
Open the Twin Gate Championship.[28] They lost the title to
Shingo Takagi and
Yamato on May 5.[29] On May 11, Uhaa was pinned for the first time in a Dragon Gate ring, when he was eliminated by
Jimmy Susumu in the first round of the
2013 King of Gate tournament.[30] On July 28 at Enter the Dragon 2013, Dragon Gate USA's fourth anniversary event, Uhaa suffered his first pinfall loss in the promotion, when he was defeated by
Anthony Nese.[31] On August 9, Uhaa lost the FIP Florida Heritage Championship to
Gran Akuma.[32] Back in Dragon Gate, Mad Blankey turned on Uhaa Nation on August 30, after he refused to wrestle Akira Tozawa, who had recently been kicked out of the group. Uhaa then formed a new partnership with Tozawa and Shingo Takagi.[33] On September 12, the three were joined by
Masato Yoshino,
Ricochet, and Shachihoko Boy to form a new stable,[34] which was on October 6 named Monster Express.[35] On January 12, 2014, Uhaa received his first shot at Dragon Gate USA's top title, the
Open the Freedom Gate Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Johnny Gargano.[36] On March 6, Uhaa also received his first shot at Dragon Gate's top title, the
Open the Dream Gate Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Monster Express stablemate Ricochet.[37] On May 23, it was reported that Uhaa had signed a new contract with Dragon Gate USA.[38]
On February 5, 2015, Uhaa made his return to Dragon Gate as Akira Tozawa's surprise partner in a tag team match, where they defeated
Cyber Kong and Don Fujii.[39] On March 1, Uhaa failed to win the Open the Dream Gate Championship from BxB Hulk in his final match for Dragon Gate.[40] Uhaa worked his final Evolve events later that month during
WWNLive's
WrestleMania week.[10][41]
WWE
NXT and main roster beginnings (2014–2017)
In October 2014, Uhaa took part in a
WWE tryout camp, resulting in a
developmental contract offer.[9][42] Starting on December 31, 2014, multiple sources reported that Uhaa had come to terms on a contract with WWE.[7][43] Uhaa reported to the
WWE Performance Center, the home of its
NXT developmental brand, on April 6, 2015.[44] WWE officially announced Uhaa as part of a new class of NXT recruits in an April 13 press release.[8] Uhaa made his first televised appearance on the May 6 episode of NXT, signing an NXT contract in a segment with
William Regal.[45] Uhaa started working NXT
house shows the following month, retaining the Uhaa Nation ring name.[46][47][48]
On August 5, it was announced that Uhaa, now working under the new ring name Apollo Crews, would be making his televised NXT in-ring debut on August 22 at
NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn,[49] where he defeated
Tye Dillinger.[50] Crews made his NXT debut on the September 2 episode of NXT, defeating
Martin Stone.[51] At
NXT TakeOver: Respect on October 7,[52] Crews defeated
Tyler Breeze.[53] On the October 14 episode of NXT, Crews won a
battle royal to become the number one contender to the
NXT Championship.[54] Crews received his title shot against
Finn Bálor on the November 4 episode of NXT,[55] winning the match by disqualification, when he was attacked by
Baron Corbin, who held a grudge against Crews for eliminating him from the number one contender's battle royal.[56] The rivalry between Crews and Corbin led to a match on December 16 at
NXT TakeOver: London,[57] which Corbin won.[58] Crews then started a feud with
Elias Samson, after Crews saved Johnny Gargano from Samson's assault on the March 23, 2016, episode of NXT.[59] On the April 6 episode of NXT, Crews defeated Samson.[60]
At the
Royal Rumble on January 29, 2017, Crews took part in his first
Royal Rumble match, entering at #22, but was eliminated by
Luke Harper.[75] Crews then teamed up with Kalisto to feud with
Dolph Ziggler, culminating in a two-on-one
handicap match on February 12 at
Elimination Chamber,[76] where Crews and Kalisto defeated Ziggler in a two-on-one
handicap match. Following the match, Ziggler attacked the two, injuring Crews' ankle, which was trapped in a chair.[77] On the February 28 episode of SmackDown, Crews lost to Ziggler in a
chairs match.[78]
Titus Worldwide (2017–2019)
As part of the
Superstar Shake-up, Crews was moved to the
Raw brand.[79] Shortly thereafter, a storyline began with
Titus O'Neil offering Crews his managerial services.[80] After becoming affiliated with "The Titus Brand", Crews started displaying attitude and cockiness.[81] On June 4 at
Extreme Rules, Crews was defeated by Kalisto.[82] During that period, Akira Tozawa joined the Titus Brand, turning it into "Titus Worldwide".[83] Crews would then enter a short feud with
Elias, losing to him on September 24 at
No Mercy,[84] the following night on Raw[85] and on the October 9 episode of Raw.[86] During this time,
Dana Brooke joined Titus Worldwide as their manager, and Tozawa quietly left the faction.[87]
On the April 6, 2020, episode of Raw, Crews was traded to the
Raw brand, and lost to
Aleister Black in his first match back as a Raw superstar.[105] On the April 20 episode of Raw, Crews defeated
MVP to qualify for the
Money in the Bankladder match,[106] however, he injured his knee in a
WWE United States Championship match against Andrade the following week, ruling him out of the ladder match.[107] Shortly after his return, off the back of a winning streak, on the May 25 episode of Raw, Crews defeated Andrade to win the United States Championship, his first title in WWE.[108] At
Backlash on June 14, Crews retained the title against Andrade in a rematch.[109] In June, he began a feud with
The Hurt Business after Crews rejected an offer to join the stable. A title defense was set up between Crews and The Hurt Business' leader MVP on July 19 at
The Horror Show at Extreme Rules,[110] however, Crews was absent at the event, and MVP declared himself as the new champion.[111] In reality, Crews had tested positive for
COVID-19, though in storyline, he suffered a bulging disc as a result from an attack by
Bobby Lashley.[112][113] Crews returned on the August 3 episode of Raw and retained the title against MVP,[114] as well as in a rematch on August 23 at
SummerSlam.[115] Seven days later at
Payback on August 30, Crews lost the United States Championship to Lashley.[116] On September 27 at
Clash of Champions, Crews failed to regain the title from Lashley.[117]
As part of the
2020 Draft in October, Crews was drafted back to the SmackDown brand.[118] On the December 25 episode of SmackDown, Crews helped
Big E win the
WWE Intercontinental Championship by preventing then-holder
Sami Zayn from escaping the arena.[119] On the January 8, 2021 episode of SmackDown, Big E issued an open challenge for the Intercontinental Championship, which Crews immediately accepted and lost.[120] On the February 19 episode of SmackDown, after losing to
Shinsuke Nakamura, Crews attacked Big E, who was at ringside, turning
heel for the first time in his career.[121]
Crews would then debut a new character where he declared himself
Nigerian royalty,[122] began to speak with a Nigerian accent in his promos in order to "embrace who he really is" and began coming to the ring with a spear.[123] On March 21 at
Fastlane, Crews failed to win the Intercontinental Championship from Big E.[124] On the April 2 episode of SmackDown, Crews challenged Big E at
WrestleMania 37 in a
Nigerian Drum Fight for the title, which Big E accepted.[125][126] On the second night of the event on April 11, he defeated Big E with the help of
Commander Azeez to win the Intercontinental Championship.[127] Crews then successfully retained his title against
Kevin Owens on the April 23 episode of SmackDown,[128] against Owens, Big E, and Sami Zayn in a
fatal four-way match on the May 21 episode of SmackDown,[129] and against Owens again on the June 4 episode of SmackDown.[130] On the August 13 episode of SmackDown, Crews lost the title to King Nakamura, ending his reign at 124 days.[131] He failed to win the title in a rematch on the September 24 episode of SmackDown.[132]
As part of the
2021 Draft, both Crews and Azeez were drafted to the
Raw brand.[133] He participated in a battle royal at
Survivor Series on November 21 and challenged
Damian Priest for the United States Championship on the November 29 episode of Raw, but failed to win both.[134][135]
Brand switches (2022–present)
After spending most of the year relegated to
Main Event, both Crews and Azeez were sent to
NXT.[136] On the June 7, 2022 episode of NXT, Crews returned as a face and dropped the Nigerian character, confronting
NXT ChampionBron Breakker.[137] He made his in-ring return to the brand on the same night, where he and
Solo Sikoa defeated
Carmelo Hayes and
Grayson Waller.[138] On July 5 at
The Great American Bash, Crews cut a promo on who he should face in NXT, but was interrupted by
Giovanni Vinci.[139] This led to a match between the two on the following episode of NXT, which Crews lost.[140] Crews soon began a feud with
Grayson Waller,[141] and on the August 30 episode of NXT, Crews lost to Waller after he was poked in the eye.[142] On the October 11 episode of NXT, a
casket match between the two was made official for
Halloween Havoc.[143][144] At the event on October 22, Crews defeated Waller.[145] On December 10 at
Deadline, Crews challenged Breakker for the NXT Championship in a losing effort.[146] He then engaged in a feud with
Carmelo Hayes, leading to a
two out of three falls match on February 4, 2023, at
Vengeance Day,[147] where Crews lost to Hayes in two straight falls.[148] After the match, he was attacked by his former ally Dabba-Kato, originally Commander Azeez,[149] who defeated Crews on the March 14 episode of NXT.[150] On the April 18 episode of NXT, Crews wrestled his final match on the brand, where he was defeated by
Dijak.[151]