Subscribe
Follow Us
While NXT Deadl1ne is all about the Iron Survivor Challenge, which is a new match type that either Shawn Michaels fever dreamed up or he's championing to a pretty incredible degree, there are a few more contests on the Saturday card, none of which is more important than the bout between Bron Breakker and Apollo Crews for the WWE NXT Champion.
If Breakker can secure the win, it'll mark his second over a WWE performer who made their way down to NXT to try to secure an easy title reign, but for Crews, the match could be so much more. It would validate his current run, make up for his strange turn as the Nigerian Prince, and send the one-time member of Titus Worldwide back to the main roster with a ton more energy behind him. Discussing what a win at Deadl1ne would mean to him with Graham “GSM” Matthews on WrestleRant Radio, Crews explained that he's willing to put in the work to prove he belongs atop NXT.
“I’m the type of individual [that] if I have to show that I’m deserving of something, I’m okay with that because that’s what I’ve done my whole life,” Crews said. “It’s nothing new. It’s been a fun ride, though. Casket match was something different and something that I really enjoyed doing, and got the victory out of that, which set me up for this match this Saturday.”
“It’s insane because I’m facing someone who I can say is very similar to me, as far as in-ring abilities, right. [He’s an] extremely athletic guy, powerful. I’m strong, quick, agile. He’s done a lot in such a short amount of time, which is insane to see. All respect to Bron Breakker, no heat there. Went fishing, enjoy his company, but I feel like for me, it’s weird. I don’t feel any pressure, but there’s a lot that I have to prove. I’m coming back, I said this is what I want to do, and it has to be done. I feel like this is the icing on top of the cake. This will make the return to NXT complete, and looking forward to fulfilling that. The feeling of being champion, you never forget what that feeling is like of winning a title. I’ve won two here, and I remember what the feeling is both times, and I look forward to feeling that feeling again and accepting everything that comes with being champion. It’s something that I’ve never had the chance to accomplish the first time around.”
Can Crews cap off his NXT run with a championship win, marking his first title reign since all the way back in 2021, when he held the Intercontinental Championship from April through August? Only time will tell, but after holding the United States Championship in 2020, and the IC Title in 2021, adding the NXT Championship to his resume would be a solid way to close out 2022, even if he has to crush his fishing buddy to do it.
Apollo Crews wants to change the WWE's perspective of him post-NXT.
Elsewhere in his interview with GSM, Crews explained that, for a time, whenever he would step in the ring, fans expected him to lose, but now, after an expansive run in NXT, he thinks that perception has changed.
“I feel like there was a a certain point where every time I got to the ring, people knew that, okay, this guy’s gonna lose, right?” Crews said. “It’s like man, how do you change that? In a world where the way that people respond to you is such an important thing, how do you change that? How do you make them believe in you again? I feel like it’s just not losing that belief in yourself, and that’s one thing that I struggled with for a while is the belief in myself. I’m like, ‘Okay, if I don’t believe in myself, why should anybody else?' I think it comes back to having that belief in yourself and knowing what you’re capable of, how good you are, and going out there and showing it time after time, and that’s what I’ve had the opportunity to do here these last six months. It’s like okay, here’s something. Now I’m gonna go out there and crush any expectation that you had. You might have had an expectation here, but I’m gonna go up here just because that’s what I’m gonna do. So I look forward to doing that again this Saturday and not just that, but coming home with the gold as well.”
Can Crews do what Dolph Ziggler couldn't and actually return to WWE with a newfound push following his NXT run, or will he too flounder without a clear direction on either RAW or SmackDown just like “The Show Off?” Only time will tell, but if Crews can secure the win over Breakker, he won't have to cross that bridge for some time.
