If Ryback can successfully avenge his WrestleMania 32 loss to Kalisto and snatch the United States championship this Sunday night at Payback, we have a great way to feed the Big Guy more — put Apollo Crews in the ring with him.
Since getting the promotion up from NXT on the Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania on April 4, Crews has dazzled with his mix of power and agility, able to gorilla press opponents up over his head one moment and dive off the top ropes the next, before delivering a spin-out powerbomb to seal their fate.
In fact, that's the arsenal he used to power past the likes of Tyler Breeze, Heath Slater and most recently, Stardust, whom Crews defeated on Raw and SmackDown twice in one week. Coincidentally, Crews credited Stardust's father, late WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes for giving him the nickname Apollo.
Crews has been on such a rampage and meteoric rise since his WWE main roster debut that it's more than clear that the company is putting him on the fast track to potential greatness. That potential greatness could see its first serious challenge if WWE puts him in the ring with a newly-crowned U.S. champion Ryback.
Why not? The two superstars are easily two of the roster's premier powerhouses, and if Apollo is going to get that push to truly get over with the WWE Universe, he's going to need an appropriate opponent to help him get there. We see Ryback as the perfect candidate to do just that ... especially if he turns full-blown heel in a win over Kalisto.
We already picked Ryback to defeat Kalisto as part of our Payback predictions. If the frothing Big Guy appears on Raw the next night with his newly-won U.S. title in tow, it'd be the perfect time for Apollo to answer the bell and challenge Ryback for the gold. Crews' agility and knack for taking to the air would more than sell a match between two of the company's more dominant big men. However, the sight of Apollo spinning Ryback around and dropping him with a powerbomb would be something else.
Hopefully, WWE makes it happen.
