5 Things Apollo Crews needs for a memorable United States Championship reign

Last week on RAW, Apollo Crews won the United States Championship. This was his first-ever title in WWE, and he won it after an intense battle with Andrade.

This was a long time coming for Crews, who's been on the main roster for over four years now. He's one of the more physically impressive athletes on RAW. His impressive mix of both strength and agility makes him an exciting watch.

Apollo now has the opportunity to cement himself as one of the top champions of his time, but to do that, he'll need to step up his game. So what will he need to do to make his mark?

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and they do not necessarily represent the views of Sportskeeda.

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#5 A satisfying conclusion to his feud with Andrade

First off, Crews needs to settle his bad blood with Andrade soon, and in a convincing manner. It wouldn't be a good start to his reign if he spends the next three months fighting the same guy. The matches might be good, but it'd get old after the first month.

I personally believe that they might be moving Andrade up to feud with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre soon (maybe not immediately, but for sure within the year), so it would make sense for Crews to defeat El Idolo and then move on to new opponents. It could happen as soon as Backlash, or it could be extended until the PPV after that, but Apollo has to come out on top.

If he were to lose the title back to Andrade, it certainly wouldn't be a reign to remember. But if he just barely ekes out victories against him, then it won't really mean much either. It has to be clear that Apollo was the better competitor, and that he can hold his own against the best of them.

#4 Character

One of the biggest issues that people had with Apollo Crews was his character or lack thereof. He's rock-solid in the ring and more than capable of putting on great matches, but why should we care? Who is he?

This was all taken care of when he joined Titus Worldwide. Titus O'Neil was able to draw out a character from Apollo, and fans were enjoying their wacky antics. It even led to some title opportunities (they had a few tag team championship matches against The Bar), and it's certainly a highlight of Crews' career.

Unfortunately, Titus Worldwide is no longer a thing, and perhaps Titus O'Neil is too tall to be a good manager. But Crews needs to be as fun to watch right now as he was back then. I'm not saying that he needs to do all sorts of goofy and silly stuff (though it would certainly be something new and could be the spark he needs), but he needs to show why we should root for him.

If WWE and Crews want to get fans invested in this title reign, then we need to care for the champion. He needs to show personality, and he needs to show grit and fire. He has to be more than the guy who just does cool flips and smiles. If Apollo Crews gets to sink his teeth into a good feud or two, it would really help bring out his character.

#3 Great matches

This obviously goes without saying. His great personality won't really matter if he just puts up uninspiring matches. Professional wrestling is made up of two main aspects - the wrestling and the story. So WWE could try to tell the most gripping story they have with Apollo Crews. It could be something straight out of a drama show, written by the best writers on the planet. It would all be for nothing if the matches are no good.

But while we cannot understate the importance of good matches, they're probably not as necessary as one might think. For example, when The Miz had that one particular reign as Intercontinental Champion (the one where he cut that promo on Talking Smack), one could argue that the only highlights of that reign from an in-ring perspective were his match against Dolph Ziggler at No Mercy and the Fatal Four Way at Extreme Rules against Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Cesaro.

And good wrestling is probably not really a concern for Crews since he is a versatile star who could have a good match with almost anyone. But still, it is worth noting that he should be having good matches. Not all of them have to be barnburner classics, but there's got to be something memorable.

#2 A worthy successor

Now, this point isn't really as important as the others, but it's still something worth keeping in mind as far as Apollo Crews is concerned. A champion is only as good as his opponents, and if WWE wants to keep the momentum of the championship going, then whoever ends up defeating Crews for the United States Championship has to be someone great.

For example, let's look at Kofi Kingston's reign as WWE Champion. After an emotional win at WrestleMania, he then fended off Dolph Ziggler in a surprisingly emotional feud (that whole "it should have been me" thing) and then handily defeated Randy Orton in a vicious and heated feud that revisited their feud in 2009. Pretty good stuff, right?

And then the reign ended with a whimper at the hands of Brock Lesnar (who is not a bad wrestler, mind you). I believe that the seven-second match between the two is what prevented Kofi's reign from being as memorable as it could have been. People wanted anyone but Brock, and while it did lead to Drew McIntyre's coronation, many still feel that Kingston was done dirty.

The guy who ends up beating Apollo Crews, whoever it may be, should also be someone that the fans want to see, otherwise, it puts a damper on the whole reign.

#1 Great follow-up feuds

If there's one thing that can really elevate a championship reign from good to great, it's the feuds that happen for it. So once this whole beef with Andrade has been squashed, Apollo Crews is going to need something else to help prove that he means business.

I personally feel that he shouldn't go with the "open challenge" route because this is an opportunity for Crews to show what he's all about. One-off open challenge matches aren't feuds, and while a few men can successfully pull off those kinds of runs, I feel Crews isn't quite there yet, and he needs some good feuds to really shine.

Whether WWE decides to have him feud with Angel Garza or toss him into the gang warfare against Seth Rollins and company, Apollo will need his own spotlight. He's been given a new chance to show what he's capable of, and as a champion, he should be able to prove that he deserves that title.

If he has less than exciting storylines, or even worse, gets lost in the shuffle of another one, then there might not be much to remember after this reign is over.

Edited by Raunak J