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Apollo Crews has admitted that he was too humble during his first few years on WWE’s main roster.
The latest episode of WWE SmackDown saw Crews debut a new heel character based on his Nigerian roots. Before his recent heel turn, the former Titus Worldwide member worked as a babyface for the majority of his six years in WWE.
Speaking on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast, Crews gave a brutally honest assessment of his current WWE position. He said he frequently used to question whether he belonged in WWE, while he never challenged the company’s decision-makers if he disagreed with something.
“Of course, I got here and I think I was too humble. I think my humbleness worked against me at times. I was too happy. I think I didn’t have the attitude of, ‘I belong here, I deserve to be here.’ You know what I mean? I wasn’t relentless in my pursuit to be the best Superstar I can be. I just took things as they came.
“I didn’t really challenge anything. I’m still kind of this way but I look at things with a different mindset. At the time, it was just like, ‘Whatever you guys need me to do, that’s what I’m gonna do.’ I think that kind of worked against me.”
Apollo Crews also revealed during the podcast appearance that John Cena used to question him about the motives of his character. The one-time United States Champion said he was embarrassed to answer Cena because he did not know his own WWE persona well enough.
How Apollo Crews changed his mindset
Apollo Crews said he tells WWE Superstars all the time that they should not make the same mistake he did. He believes people within WWE need to ask questions and not settle for a position that they are not happy with.
Outside the ring, the WWE SmackDown Superstar credited self-empowerment books and Lilian Garcia’s Chasing Glory podcast for helping him shift his mindset. He added that he now works on new ideas and talks to WWE writers when he has free time.
Please credit Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast and give a H/T to SK Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
