Apollo Crews
Sesugh Uhaa Mumba[1][10] (born August 22, 1987)[2] is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Apollo Crews.
He started his career in 2009, originally working under the ring name Uhaa Nation,[6] and made his breakthrough in 2011, when he was signed by the Dragon Gate USA promotion, which also led to him making his first trip to Japan to work for Dragon Gate. Standing at 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) and weighing 240 lb (110 kg), Uhaa is known both as a high-flyer and a power wrestler.[11][12][13]
He signed with WWE in 2015 and was assigned to the NXT brand, where he was given his current ring name. He was promoted to WWE’s main roster in April 2016, where he won the United States Championship in May 2020 and later won the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 37.
On September 9, 2011, Uhaa took part in a tryout seminar held by the Dragon Gate USA promotion.[6] He was immediately signed for appearances for not only Dragon Gate USA, but also its parent promotion, Dragon Gate, and close affiliates Evolve and Full Impact Pro (FIP).[6] He made his wrestling debut for Dragon Gate USA later that same day, defeating Aaron Draven in a squash match.[18] Uhaa made his pay-per-view debut the following day at Untouchable 2011, where he answered Brodie Lee’s open challenge and dominated him, before Lee left the ringside area.[19][20] The following day at the Way of the Ronin 2011 pay-per-view, Uhaa defeated Facade, Flip Kendrick and Sugar Dunkerton in a four-way match.[21] On October 29, Uhaa made his first appearance for Full Impact Pro, when he defeated Jake Manning for FIP Florida Heritage Championship.[22] Uhaa then entered a storyline, where different Dragon Gate USA stables tried to recruit him to join them.[23] On November 30, Uhaa made his Japanese debut for Dragon Gate, during an event produced by the villainous Blood Warriors stable. Uhaa defeated Kotoka in a match that lasted 99 seconds, establishing himself as the newest member of Blood Warriors in the process.[24] For the rest of the tour, which lasted until December 25, Uhaa worked alongside the Blood Warriors stable, winning every one of his matches.[25][26] At the end of 2011, Dragon Gate USA named Uhaa the Best Newcomer of the year.[6] He also finished second behind Daichi Hashimoto in Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s award category for Rookie of the Year.[27]
Upon his return to the United States, Uhaa made his debut for Evolve on January 14, 2012, with a win over Pinkie Sanchez.[28][29] When the following March, Akira Tozawa took over the leadership of Blood Warriors from Cima and renamed the group Mad Blankey, Uhaa Nation followed along to the renamed stable.[6] Uhaa made his first appearance representing Mad Blankey at a DGUSA event on March 29, when he and stablemates Akira Tozawa and BxB Hulk defeated Ronin (Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann) and D.U.F. (Arik Cannon, Pinkie Sanchez, and Sami Callihan) in a three-way trios match.[30] However, during the match Uhaa suffered a knee injury, which sidelined him for a year.[31][32] Uhaa returned to the ring on February 1, 2013, at Full Impact Pro’s Everything Burns iPPV, where he successfully defended the FIP Florida Heritage Championship against Chasyn Rance.[33] On March 2, Uhaa returned to Japan and Dragon Gate, when he and BxB Hulk defeated Don Fujii and Masaaki Mochizuki for the Open the Twin Gate Championship.[34] They lost the title to Shingo Takagi and Yamato on May 5.[35] On May 11, Uhaa was pinned for the first time in a Dragon Gate ring, when he was eliminated by Jimmy Susumu in the first round of the 2013 King of Gate tournament.[36] On July 28 at Enter the Dragon 2013, Dragon Gate USA’s fourth anniversary event, Uhaa suffered his first pinfall loss in the promotion, when he was defeated by Anthony Nese.[37] On August 9, Uhaa lost the FIP Florida Heritage Championship to Gran Akuma.[38] Back in Dragon Gate, Mad Blankey turned on Uhaa Nation on August 30, after he refused to wrestle Akira Tozawa, who had recently been kicked out of the group. Uhaa then formed a new partnership with Tozawa and Shingo Takagi.[39][40] On September 12, the three were joined by Masato Yoshino, Ricochet, and Shachihoko Boy to form a new stable,[41] which was on October 6 named Monster Express.[42] On January 12, 2014, Uhaa received his first shot at Dragon Gate USA’s top title, the Open the Freedom Gate Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Johnny Gargano.[43] On March 6, Uhaa also received his first shot at Dragon Gate’s top title, the Open the Dream Gate Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Monster Express stablemate Ricochet.[44] On May 23, it was reported that Uhaa had signed a new contract with Dragon Gate USA.[45]
On February 5, 2015, Uhaa made his return to Dragon Gate as Akira Tozawa’s surprise partner in a tag team match, where they defeated Cyber Kong and Don Fujii.[46] At the end of the event, Uhaa confronted BxB Hulk, challenging him to a match for the Open the Dream Gate Championship.[47] On March 1, Uhaa failed in his title challenge against Hulk, after which he announced he had wrestled his final match for Dragon Gate.[48] Uhaa worked his final Evolve events later that month during WWNLive’s WrestleMania week.[12][49]
