5 WWE Superstars who could lose their push when crowds return in July
WWE will start regular live touring for RAW, SmackDown, and pay-per-views starting from July 16th, where Houston will host Friday Night SmackDown. It's interesting because March 2020 to June 2021 will be viewed as a significant piece of WWE history.
A lot happened in that time that we never would have imagined. Roman Reigns turning heel was perhaps the biggest one, but there were a handful of superstars who rose to the occasion and got the biggest push of their WWE career.
Some of these names benefited from the lack of crowds present, which ultimately helped them develop as performers. However, the downside of crowds returning is that a few WWE Superstars will inevitably lose their push. Here are five possible names:
#5. Apollo Crews - Among the biggest beneficiaries of WWE's pandemic era
The past 13-14 months have been the greatest of Apollo Crews' career in WWE (and wrestling in general). When he signed with the company in 2015, he was promoted as a future top star with a lot of promise. NXT was the right starting point, but WWE made the mistake of calling him up to the main roster less than a year into his run with the former "developmental" brand.
It was clear that he was green from the get-go. While he was always a great athlete and a good in-ring performer, that's usually never enough in WWE. The commentators would repeat "he has all the tools" for years, all while he was being underutilized.
Then, 2020 happened. The pandemic began, and with worldwide lockdowns happening, WWE was forced to shift all their shows to the Performance Center, where it was all held behind closed doors.
It was then that Paul Heyman got Apollo Crews over to RAW. With a large part of the WWE roster taking a hiatus during the early stages of the pandemic, Crews turned out to be a huge beneficiary.
Not only did this provide him with his first legitimate Championship push in WWE, but his promo ability and character started to slowly come together. In the past year, he has feuded with The Hurt Business, won the United States Championship, got re-drafted to SmackDown, turned heel, and won the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 37.
While we hope that his current push is only a stepping stone for bigger things, he could be one of the unlucky superstars to lose their push once the crowds return. Ultimately, the crowd reaction is everything, and Apollo Crews needs to get a big one to have a sustained push.