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On the 20th August episode of SmackDown, Apollo Crews was pinned by Rick Boogs in a tag team match, which might be a sign of something happening behind the scenes.
WWE veteran Dutch Mantell speculated on the recent episode of Smack Talk that Apollo Crews' lost push might be because he made somebody mad backstage:
"He's done nothing in the ring and he's made somebody mad somewhere along the lines. He may go to NXT," said Mantell.
Check out the entire exclusive interview in the video below:
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He elaborated that the match Apollo Crews was in felt pointless and that they should have left the tag team bout off SmackDown altogether. He said that the entire match did more harm than good:
"I don't get it at all. That's the match they could have left off tonight. I don't see what they accomplished. It did more damage than it helped anybody," Mantell added.
Apollo Crews seems to have taken a fall down the card when crowds returned to WWE this past July. During almost the entirety of the pandemic era, Apollo Crews experienced the biggest success of his WWE career.
It led to two championship victories on RAW and SmackDown, but things haven't been the same since crowds returned.
It should be noted that Apollo Crews got no offense in during the tag team match on SmackDown on Friday night, where he teamed up with Commander Azeez to take on Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs.
Apollo Crews' push came to an abrupt halt
Apollo Crews had a good run on RAW in 2020 but truly developed his character on SmackDown when he turned heel. At WrestleMania 37, Commander Azeez "debuted" (although he was also a part of RAW Underground in 2020) by costing Big E and helping Apollo Crews win the Intercontinental Championship.
It was in the build to Money in the Bank 2021 when Apollo Crews seemed to have abruptly lost his push. Despite being the Intercontinental Champion, he lost to eventual Money in the Bank winner Big E in a qualifying match.
After this, it's been completely downhill for Apollo Crews. He lost his Intercontinental title to King Nakamura on SmackDown and his pinfall loss to Rick Boogs has cemented his drop down the card.
