Apollo Crews recently appeared on WWE After The Bell and looked back on his journey to his newfound prominence on WWE Friday Night SmackDown. He reflected on how his humble attitude may have hamstrung the early years of his run on the main roster.
“I think I was too humble, I think my humbleness worked against me at times,” said Crews. “I was just too happy, and I didn’t have the attitude of, I belong here. I deserve to be here, you what I mean? I wasn’t relentless in my pursuit to be the best Superstar that I could be.
“I kind of just, I took things as they came. I didn’t really challenge anything, and I’m still kind of that like at this point, but I look at things with a different mindset. But at the time, it was just like, whatever you guys need me to do, that’s what I’m gonna do…and I think that kind of worked against me.”
Crews also discussed how his appearance on “Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia” changed his career. He described how the experience inspired him to do everything within his power to get more opportunities in WWE.
“Watching myself in that interview was, for me, literally, I got to look at myself in the mirror,” said Crews. “I watched myself talk about my life, my upbringing, my career, everything. And at that moment…it was the greatest thing that ever could have happened for my career was, at the time, being on her podcast because I literally got to look in the mirror, deep into my soul.
“I’m watching myself talk about my life, and I was like I have to do something about it. So whether it’s, I gotta do better with controlling what I can control, so for me, that would be okay, how I look. I was like okay, the next time I get on TV, I’m gonna look like a million dollars and somebody’s gonna notice it.”
Similarly, Crews described how he also pushed himself in an effort to make others notice him. The former WWE United States Champion stated that he wanted to know that, at the very least, he tried his best.
“I’m just literally sitting here, coming in and getting paid” said Crews. “I’m happy to be paid, you know what I mean? But that wasn’t enough for me. I came here to be one of the best, if not the best. I can’t end my career knowing that I didn’t at least try. So I knew I had to do everything in my power, at least. Whether it worked or not, at least I knew that hey, I did everything that I could.”
Crews’ efforts didn’t go unnoticed. Though it took some time, he became a featured player on WWE RAW under Paul Heyman’s leadership, and he’s now enjoying another resurgence on WWE Friday Night SmackDown.
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The full episode of After The Bell with Apollo Crews is available here:
