Former Intercontinental Champion Discusses Raw Return
Having been drafted by the red brand, a former Intercontinental Champion has made it clear he’s a different competitor than in the past.
As part of the 2023 WWE Draft, Apollo Crews was brought back to Monday Night Raw. Crews has spent time on both Raw and SmackDown in the past, but returned to NXT in the summer of 2022 and ended up feuding with Grayson Waller and Carmelo Hayes.
On the 15th May 2023 edition of Monday Night Raw, Crews made his return to the red brand as part of the Battle Royale to determine a new challenger for Intercontinental Champion, Gunther.
Although not successful in the match, it was a key moment for Crews to be back on Raw, and he spoke about it afterwards on a WWE Raw Exclusive.
In the interview with Byron Saxton, Apollo Crews was clearly pleased to be back on Monday nights, even if he didn’t get the job done this time out.
It feels good, and I gotta say, the reaction that I got was amazing. It felt great to be out there in front of the Monday Night Raw crowd. Unfortunately, couldn’t get it done tonight in the battle royal. But that’s just a little taste. There’s a lot more to go, there’s a lot more left where that came from. Just a little taste.
Continuing on, Apollo Crews spoke about his past accomplishments, and how people are going to see a whole new side of him this time around.
It’s funny you say that because sometimes I forget. Sometimes I forget their accolades. United States Champion. Intercontinental Champion, won [it] at WrestleMania. Sometimes I forget. But every day, I need to remind myself. I need to remind myself that I deserve to be here. I need to remind myself that I deserve every single opportunity that’s presented towards me, and I’m gonna step out there and do it. What’s different? I see a lot of faces in the locker room, a lot of new faces in that locker room, but this is a different Apollo Crews as well, and everybody’s gonna get to see that when that time comes.
Apollo Crews held the Intercontinental Championship for just over four months, having won the belt from Big E at WrestleMania 37 before losing it to Shinsuke Nakamura in August 2021.
With thanks to Fightful for the transcription.