The scheduled match between Apollo Crews and MVP at tonight’s Extreme Rules event did not take place.
At the start of the segment, the announcers said that Apollo had failed a pre-match physical and was not cleared to compete at tonight’s show. They aired footage of Crews being laid out by Lashley with a full nelson submission, explaining that Apollo suffered a bulging disc as a result of the attack.
MVP and Lashley then came out. MVP told Lashley jokingly not to use the full nelson so much that it hurts his career. He then took the new United States title and left, declaring himself the new champion by forfeit. The announcers insisted that he wasn’t.
Apollo hasn’t been seen on television in recent weeks, most recently appearing on the June 29th episode of Raw where he was pinned by MVP. MVP has since introduced a new United States title design and has declared himself champion, even though the title was not on the line for their match.
Last night on Raw, the chyron for Apollo listed his full name for the first time in two months. His bio on WWE.com’s website also has him back as Apollo Crews. Back in February, his name was shortened to just Apollo for reasons that were never made entirely clear. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported last month that internal memos within WWE indicated that the name was changed due to having a similar name with Nikolas Cruz, the shooter behind the Parkland, Florida mass shooting.
Crews and the rest of Titus Worldwide came out last night to welcome Dolph Ziggler, who had just been traded from SmackDown. Titus invited Ziggler to join the group. As he was contemplating, Drew McIntyre came in and laid out Crews, headbutting him. The new team attacked both Titus and Crews, laying out Crews with a zig zag/Claymore kick combination.
Crews has been mostly teaming with Titus O’Neil ever since joining Raw in last year’s Superstar Shakeup.
The Big Takeaway: Apollo was the latest man to defeat Curt Hawkins, taking his tally to 0-181 here and at the time of this writing 0-184. Gran Metalik & Kalisto had a by-the-numbers tag bout with Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese, leaving Daivari still winless since August.
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Apollo (w/ Titus O’Neil and Dana Brooke) defeated Curt Hawkins (4:59)
The streak continues for Hawkins, who went 0-181 here and then lost three times over the weekend (including twice in the same night at Raw’s house show in Minneapolis on Friday) to take the tally to 0-184. With no indication of when or where this losing streak will end, the live reports of Hawkins with this gimmick have been very favorable and there’s no denying that it has been fun covering this on Main Event.
He and Apollo went back and forth here in much the same mold as the matches he’s had on Main Event of late: Apollo gave him lots of the match and they really made it look as though Hawkins had enough to finally end the streak until Apollo was able to snatch the win out of nothing.
After an enzuigiri and his patented standing moonsault, Hawkins kicked out and they traded near falls. The finish saw Hawkins go up to the second rope, looking for a flying back elbow, but he got caught by Apollo, who quickly nailed him with The Chariot for the win.
Gran Metalik & Kalisto defeated Ariya Daivari & Tony Nese (4:31)
Meanwhile, in the cruiserweight division, another losing streak is forming. After going 0-31 last week on this show, Ariya Daivari is now 0-33 in all competitions with yet another loss here. He is still without a win in seven months.
Metalik and Daivari started the match, with Daivari calling for Kalisto to be tagged in. After quick covers, Daivari made it to the ropes and Nese came in. When Kalisto dropkicked Nese, he followed it up with a head-scissors and Nese rolled out of the ring. Metalik hit a twisted plancha to the outside on Nese and Daivari as we went to the break.
The match flew by in the second half and they quickly went to the finish. Metalik hit a senton to the outside on both Nese and Daivari. He then rolled Nese back into the ring and superkicked him to put him in position for the rope-walk elbow drop. Metalik nailed Nese in the middle of the ring with the elbow for the win.
As expected, Cesaro & Sheamus will defend their titles against Titus O’Neil & Apollo. The Titus Worldwide team defeated the champions in a non-title match on Raw this past Monday and then challenged them in a post-show video, but WWE didn’t officially announce the match until today.
O’Neil & Apollo have beaten Cesaro & Sheamus in three non-title matches this year, but Cesaro & Sheamus retained against them on the January 29th episode of Raw.
The pre-show will also feature Raw’s tag team division, with Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson set to face Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas. Gallows & Anderson had been feuding with The Revival in recent weeks.
With Axel & Dallas helping him out, The Miz eliminated Finn Balor in Monday’s gauntlet match.
The card for Sunday now has six confirmed matches. Here’s the lineup for the show:
Braun Strowman vs. John Cena vs. Elias vs. Roman Reigns vs. The Miz vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor in an Elimination Chamber match (winner challenges for Brock Lesnar’s Universal Championship at WrestleMania)
Ronda Rousey signing her Raw contract
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Sasha Banks, Bayley, Mickie James, Mandy Rose, and Sonya Deville in an Elimination Chamber match
Asuka vs. Nia Jax (Jax gets added to the Raw Women’s title match at WrestleMania if she wins)
Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt
Raw Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defending against Titus O’Neil & Apollo
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Curtis Axel & Bo Dallas (pre-show)
Charlotte Flair teamed with Bobby Roode to advance in the Mixed Match Challenge as the first round concluded in Phoenix, Arizona.
The “Robe Warriors” defeated the team of Nia Jax & Apollo in advancing to the next round of the tournament. Following the match was the first time an angle took place on the show when Nia turned on Titus Worldwide after her team lost.
Charlotte & Bobby move on to the quarterfinals where they meet Rusev & Lana in three weeks time. The quarterfinals begin next week with Sasha Banks & Finn Balor against Asuka & The Miz. Technically every team still has a chance to advance until week eleven in the tournament since a fan vote can save one team by adding them to a semifinal match.
Besides the novelty of a mixed tag team tournament, the series has a philanthropic aspect with each team choosing a charity to represent. Charlotte & Roode are supporting Girl Up as their charity, while Jax & Crews are representing Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The winners of the tournament will receive a $100,000 donation to their charity, though $10,000 will also be donated to every other team’s charity.
The show opened with Michael Cole claiming the Mixed Match Challenge was the “most interactive show in the world.” Well, there is a comments section. A team from the tournament is usually trolling in the thread. This week that team was Naomi & Jimmy Uso.
Viewers could also leave emoji responses during the show. Corey Graves even demonstrated this on the air. Cole might have a point with his previous claim. I remain skeptical.
Mashing up their entrances, Charlotte & Bobby went together like peanut butter and jelly. They both complimented each other — complete with matching robes. Thus, they are called the Robe Warriors.
Nia Jax & Apollo seemed to get along — but Nia and Titus Worldwide not so much. Titus O’Neil and Dana Brooke accompanied Nia & Apollo to the ring — and Nia bickered with them from the start.
Charlotte Flair & Bobby Roode defeated Nia Jax & Apollo
Bobby Roode pinned Apollo to win the match. Like most matches in the tournament, there was plenty of gaga. That began when Bobby Roode did a strut. Charlotte was having none of that. She proceeded to demonstrate the proper way to strut. Bobby kept doing his best Ric Flair, and Bobby’s “woo” needed work. Charlotte noted that in a running joke.
Dana Brooke interfered by tripping Charlotte, which allowed Nia to strike. Nia nevertheless scolded Dana for interfering — yelling “stay out of my business!” Nia soon found herself dropkicked out of the ring. Charlotte did the “glorious” pose.
“Not bad,” Bobby Roode remarked.
Something not so good, Charlotte and Nia ran through some spots with several hiccups. After another distraction by Titus Worldwide at ringside, Nia shoved Charlotte off the apron to the floor. Nia got in Dana’s face and yelled at her for interfering again. Apollo tried to play peacemaker. The argument allowed Charlotte to gain the advantage on a distracted Nia.
Charlotte went after a knee, and soon applied a figure four leglock. Nia escaped to set up a hot tag. The pace quickened.
As they went home, Bobby countered a standing moonsault by Apollo. At the same time, Charlotte did a moonsault off the top rope on to Nia. Bobby then delivered the Glorious DDT for the pinfall.
Renee Young interviewed the winners. Charlotte gave a “woo” and Bobby tried to do the same with mixed results. The running joke cotinued.
Following the post-match interview, Nia Jax cut a promo on Titus Worldwide. Apollo bent down to assist in giving Titus a classic schoolboy when Nia shoved Titus. Nia blocked a punch from Dana, and then she executed a Samoan Drop on Dana. While Nia clearly turned on Titus Worldwide, Apollo’s future with the group remained in question as the show closed.
As Nia stormed off, the announcers plugged her match this Sunday against Asuka. Not only was Asuka mentioned at that point in the show, she and Miz earlier had cut a promo hyping their match next week. Their opponents also cut a promo building towards Sasha Banks & Finn Balor against Asuka & The Miz when the quarterfinals begin next Tuesday.
The WWE name-shortening machine has apparently struck again.
Apollo Crews’ name has been shortened to just Apollo on WWE.com’s roster page. This hasn’t been reflected on television yet, as last week Apollo was still being referred to as Apollo Crews, but that may change on tonight’s program.
This would be the latest person to have their name altered on the main roster. Others who have lost their names in the past include Adrian Neville, Antonio Cesaro, Alexander Rusev, Big E Langston, Luke Harper, Erick Rowan, Elias Samson, and a bevy of others.
Apollo, real name Sesugh Uhaa, was signed by WWE in 2014. The following year, he was renamed Apollo Crews and worked in the NXT developmental program until he was called up in April of 2016. Since the brand split, he’s worked both brands and has most recently appeared on Raw. He was a part of the fatal five-way match last week that would determine the final entrant in this Sunday’s Elimination Chamber match.
