Apollo Crews has opened up about his WWE release, revealing that he expected the call several days before it came and ultimately received the news while attending his son’s basketball practice.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Crews reflected on being released on April 24, the Friday following WrestleMania 42. He was among roughly two dozen names let go by WWE during that round of cuts.
Crews said his lack of television time had already left him wondering about his future, despite being brought in for appearances during WrestleMania week. “That week I kind of had an idea, because it was WrestleMania the week before, and I hadn’t been doing anything on TV, and I got called in to do some appearances at WrestleMania, which was pretty cool,” Crews said. “I think the two years before that, I just stayed at home for both WrestleManias.”
The biggest indication came when WWE’s travel department contacted him after WrestleMania and told him he was no longer needed for that week’s SmackDown. “I think it was Wednesday after Mania, I got a call from travel, and they said that I’m not needed for SmackDown this week. So I’ll be staying home,” Crews said. “And at that moment, I instantly knew. I was like, okay, Friday they’re gonna call me, and this is gonna be it.”
Crews spent that Friday expecting the call before it finally arrived at around 5 p.m. “I get my son to basketball practice around like 5 p.m., and here the call comes. Forty-five-second call, just explaining the situation,” Crews said.
After spending years watching other wrestlers get released while he remained with WWE, Crews admitted he had developed what he described as “survivor’s remorse.”
“I’d almost developed like this survivor’s remorse, because I’m like, man, how come I’m still here?” Crews said. “I always pictured what it would be like, but when it happened, it was nothing like I pictured.”
Rather than experiencing an immediate emotional reaction, Crews said the reality of the situation took time to sink in. “I didn’t really feel anything. And when I said I didn’t feel anything, it wasn’t like, ah, I don’t care,” Crews said. “I think I just didn’t give it enough time to process. The fact that I did expect it kind of helped soften the blow.”
Being with his son also meant Crews had to immediately shift his attention back to being a parent. “I was at basketball practice with my son, so I was like, okay, I have to still be a dad,” Crews said. “Once this practice is over, I can’t just sulk in my misery until we get home. He knows nothing about what’s going on with the job, and even if I explained it to him, he just couldn’t understand it.”
Crews informed his wife, whom he had already warned that he expected to be released, and later extended a planned family trip to Finland into a month-long stay. After spending 11 years associated with WWE, he felt he needed time to rediscover himself away from the company. “Eleven years is a long time to be tied up in the company, and a lot of my identity was inside WWE,” Crews said. “So I was like, I need to figure out who I am outside of this company.”
Crews bought a bicycle and returned to David Goggins’ book while challenging himself physically as part of that process. “Let me push myself to the physical limit and see if I can find out who I am outside of this place,” Crews said. “I think it was my way of coping with these emotions.”
His responsibilities away from wrestling also prevented him from dwelling on the release. “Sometimes when you want to just kind of curl up into a ball and disappear, I didn’t have that opportunity,” Crews said. “I had two kids. I had a wife that still needed to go to school. My son had a basketball game the next day. I had neighbors that you got to talk to, people in your real life that you got to see. But their situation hasn’t changed, and yours has.”
Crews has since begun appreciating the freedom that comes without WWE’s demanding schedule. “It always felt like I had somewhere to be when I was with the company,” Crews said. “I don’t even know if I’ve gotten all the way to that point yet. It’s only been a couple months. But I realized quickly, it’s not the end of the world. This is an opportunity for something new as well.”
Despite his release, Crews believes the door remains open for a potential WWE return. He pointed to his conduct throughout his lengthy run with the company as one reason he feels another opportunity could be available. “I feel like I do, because what I try to do is leave the most positive outlook I can, no matter where I go,” Crews said. “I never got in trouble. I never did anything that was against the company policy or anything like that.”
However, Crews stressed that returning to WWE isn’t something he is currently waiting around for. “So I think if that option was on the table, I definitely would be a likely candidate,” Crews said. “I think that option would be there for sure. But it’s not something I’m sitting here just waiting and dying to happen.”
Crews has instead been expanding his interests outside professional wrestling. He is completing a master’s degree in sports nutrition and has started working with clients, including Ricochet. “When I first got released, I was doing all these things to try to find who I was, and that just naturally came over these last couple months,” Crews said. “I’ve dove so deep into that that I’ve almost forgot that I was a wrestler, and it’s crazy to say, because that’s a huge part of my life.”
Crews hasn’t walked away from wrestling, however. He has a Dragon Gate booking in Japan and additional dates scheduled. He also returned to TNA following his WWE departure under his former independent wrestling name, Uhaa Nation, making his return at Slammiversary in June.
Dragon Gate played a major role in establishing Crews before WWE signed him in late 2014. “At this moment, I am focused on other things and making sure that when it’s all said and done, I have something to do when wrestling’s done,” Crews said. “I’m not going to wrestle that long, but I can’t just not do anything. So it was about finding something that’s not as physically demanding as wrestling.”
Crews spent much of 2025 sidelined with a torn pectoral muscle before returning to the ring at an AAA taping in November and eventually returning to WWE programming in January. His final WWE match was a loss to Mr. Iguana at a Main Event taping that aired on the same day as his release.
During his WWE career, Crews held both the United States Championship and Intercontinental Championship.
