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WWE's current Intercontinental Champion Apollo Crews wasn't featured at Money in the Bank and didn't defend his title against anyone at the event. This was mostly because the few worthy competitors for Crews' title participated in the Money in the Bank ladder match.
However, on this week's SmackDown, WWE held a segment where Apollo Crews confronted Mr. Money in the Bank, Big E. This led to other WWE Superstars coming out and an eventual, inevitable, brawl.
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It seems that Crews now has some direction again in WWE and there are a handful of superstars who can step up to him (and try to step up to Commander Azeez).
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Here are five challengers for Apollo Crews' WWE Intercontinental Title:
#5. King Nakamura wants the gold from Apollo Crews
King Nakamura and his trusty companion, Rick Boogs, were part of the brawl that erupted when everyone interrupted Big E's Money in the Bank briefcase speech. It makes sense that the Japanese star might be after more gold.
Nakamura recently won the crown and the title 'King' by defeating former King of the Ring winner Baron Corbin. But being a 'King' in WWE isn't that big a deal. It's certainly not as big a deal as being Intercontinental Champion and 'King' at the same time!
#4. Bronson Reed becomes Roman Reigns' ally after beating Apollo Crews
'The Colossal' Bronson Reed is yet to make his official main roster debut on either RAW or Smackdown, but he should do so by going after Apollo Crews. Obviously, he's made a main roster debut on WWE Main Event, but that doesn't really count.
The former NXT North American Champion should enter straight into the mid-card or even main event picture when he debuts, and it certainly looks like SmackDown could do with more star power.
Plus, Reed has already highlighted that he'd be interested in joining forces with Roman Reigns and The Usos while being the Intercontinental Champion.
#3. Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler work together to get the title from Apollo Crews
Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode were also involved in the brawl over Apollo Crews' title that took place on this week's SmackDown, which is interesting as they're both currently tag team wrestlers.
However, with The Usos and the Mysterios monopolizing the SmackDown tag team division, it makes sense that both men would work together to chase after singles gold instead.
The problem is that they're both heels and Apollo Crews is also a heel, so it might not be the best feud for WWE to pursue. Out of the two, though, Robert Roode could probably use a title run more than Ziggler!
#2. Commander Azeez turns on Apollo Crews
Commander Azeez has been a huge part of Apollo Crews' success, both in terms of winning the Intercontinental Title and in terms of the latter keeping it for as long as he has.
It's a tried and tested storyline that WWE has highlighted time and time again. But they should absolutely explore a story where the giant gets tired of being ordered around by the smaller Crews and turns on him as a result.
This would allow Azeez to strike out on his own as WWE's next big monster in the absence of Braun Strowman, and to kick off a singles run as the new Intercontinental Champion.
#1. Cesaro is the next rightful challenger to Apollo Crews
Cesaro is one of those superstars, who, like Kofi Kingston, has worked tirelessly in WWE for many years and definitely deserves some recognition for his efforts. It looked like this was going to happen when he defeated Seth Rollins at WrestleMania.
And it sort of did, for a while. Cesaro got to challenge Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship in a short-lived feud between the two, but obviously, Reigns came out on top.
As a result, Cesaro has still not been rewarded with a world title run following his WrestleMania success, which is why he should be next in line to challenge for a mid-card championship, at least.
