WWE star Apollo Crews was overwhelmed after taking on The Undertaker’s legacy in Casket Match-Alistair McGeorge-Entertainment – Metro

Apollo Crews has rejuvenated his own career since rejoining NXT (Picture: WWE)

Apollo Crews had emotions ‘spilling out’ after following in the footsteps of The Undertaker earlier this year.

The WWE superstar was in his first ever Casket Match against Grayson Waller at NXT Halloween Havoc in October, and he admitted there was a lot of feelings that went into crafting and performing in a match synonymous with the iconic Hall of Famer.

He exclusively told Metro.co.uk: ‘Man, that was one of those things. OK, yeah the history of the Casket Match, everyone knows its history. it was an opportunity to play off of that but do something new – an NXT Casket Match, how do we do that?

‘How do we give the fans such a historic match but an NXT style match as well? So thinking of that and coming up with different concepts and creative ideas was fun too. Working with Grayson was great.’

He described the idea of competing in the match itself as a ‘bucket list moment’, and he couldn’t shake the ‘adrenaline rush’ even the next morning.

‘Not that I forgot it happened but after you brought it up, it brings back the memory like, “Oh yeah, I did do that,”‘ he laughed. ‘It’s crazy because you try to enjoy all these moments that happen because they just come and go like that.’

Apollo beat Grayson Waller under the iconic stipulation (Picture: WWE)

The enormity of the match as part of the former United States Champion’s blossoming WWE career isn’t lost on him, and he took himself to the gym the next morning to clear his head.

‘I remember waking up the next morning and still feeling the adrenaline rush and not really being able to interact with people very well because I still had this rush of adrenaline,’ he explained.

‘I cooked breakfast for everyone and just left for the gym. I remember texting my wife when I got there, I was like, “I needed to just put my mind to something and focus on something”, because I just had these emotions that were still spilling out.’

Beyond the Casket Match itself, it also marked the first time Apollo had been on the card for a premium live event since winning the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 37 in April 2021.

The casket Match is synonymous with The Undertaker (Picture: WWE)

‘It might only seem like a year, but if you think about how many premium live events go on within that year, it’s a lot to be absent from those shows,’ he admitted.

‘It was a lot of emotion the day of the show, the nerves and everything. But again, it was awesome and it was an honour to be a part of that!’

After that victory over Big E in Florida, Apollo eventually lost momentum and felt like his Nigerian royalty character was growing ‘stale’, and he pitched to return to NXT.

Triple H and Shawn Michaels, both pioneers of the brand, have been big sources of advice and inspiration for him since he signed in 2014, while he’s also turned to the likes of The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Roman Reigns over the years.

Halloween Havoc was Apollo’s first premium live event since WrestleMania 37 (Picture: WWE)

‘There’s Miz, you’ve got Dolph Ziggler, Roman – how can you not be influenced by that right? There’s Bobbty Lashley, Big E, all of those guys – Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods,’ he said.

‘A lot of guys that not just are talented but have great advice and want you to succeed as a talent as well, it’s nice to have that around you, and to have these role models to look up to and know that you’re not the only one that things may not go right for, right?

‘You have situations where – it’s not that’s it’s gonna go your way, it’s how you react to that, how you respond to that and what you do to change that.’

Over the weekend, Apollo came up short against Bron Breakker in an NXT Championship match at NXT Deadline, but going into the show he admitted there is a bigger reason for him being back on the show.

He explained: ‘Coming back to NXT, I just felt like I was facing a situation where it’s like, “OK do I stay here and kind of keep coming and accept the nothing that’s happening, or do I do something to change that?”

‘I felt like I had to go in this direction so I was very glad I chose the direction I went in.’

WWE NXT airs Tuesday nights at 1am on BT Sport 1.

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