Apollo Crews Sesugh Uhaa ( August 22 , 1987 ) is an American professional wrestler , better known by the ring name Uhaa Nation . He is currently signed to WWE under the ring name Apollo Crews . Starting his career in 2009 , Uhaa 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 260 lb ( 118 kg ) , Uhaa is known both as a high - flyer and a power wrestler . Early life . Born in Sacramento , California , Uhaa was raised in Atlanta , Georgia and early on fell in love with professional wrestling . While weight training in high school , he was given the nickname " Uhaa Nation " , when his coach noted that he was " as strong as a single nation " . Professional wrestling career . Early career . In 2009 , Uhaa began training professional wrestling under Curtis " Mr . " Hughes at his World Wrestling Alliance 4 ( WWA4 ) promotion ' s training school in Atlanta . After making his wrestling debut under the ring name Uhaa Nation on August 17 , 2009 , he spent over a year working mainly for small promotions on the Georgian independent circuit , but also made trips to Houston , Texas - based Pro Wrestling Alliance ( PWA ) and Phenix City , Alabama - based Great Championship Wrestling ( GCW ) , often working with fellow WWA4 trainee AR Fox . Dragon Gate and affiliates ( 2011 – 2012 ) . On September 9 , 2011 , Uhaa took part in a tryout seminar held by the Dragon Gate USA promotion . 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 ) . He made his wrestling debut for Dragon Gate USA later that same day , defeating Aaron Draven in a squash match . 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 . 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 . On October 29 , Uhaa made his first appearance for Full Impact Pro , when he defeated Jake Manning for FIP Florida Heritage Championship . Uhaa then entered a storyline , where different Dragon Gate USA stables tried to recruit him to join them . 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 . For the rest of the tour , which lasted until December 25 , Uhaa worked alongside the Blood Warriors stable , winning every one of his matches . At the end of 2011 , Dragon Gate USA named Uhaa the Best Newcomer of the year . He also finished second behind Daichi Hashimoto in Wrestling Observer Newsletter ' s award category for Rookie of the Year . Upon his return to the United States , Uhaa made his debut for Evolve on January 14 , 2012 , with a win over Pinkie Sanchez . 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 . On March 29 , Uhaa made his first appearance representing Mad Blankey , 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 . However , during the match Uhaa suffered a knee injury , which , according to his physician , could sideline him for up to a year . 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 . 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 . They lost the title to Shingo Takagi and Yamato on May 5 . 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 . 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 . On August 9 , Uhaa lost the FIP Florida Heritage Championship to Gran Akuma . 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 . On September 12 , the three were joined by Masato Yoshino , Ricochet and Shachihoko Boy to form a new stable , which was on October 6 named Monster Express . WWE . NXT ( 2015 - present ) . In late 2014 , Uhaa took part in a WWE tryout camp , which resulted in him being offered a developmental contract . Starting on December 31 , 2014 , multiple sources reported that Uhaa had come to terms on a contract with WWE . Uhaa reported to the WWE Performance Center , the home of their NXT developmental brand , on April 6 , 2015 . WWE officially announced Uhaa as part of a new class of NXT recruits in a press release on April 13 . Uhaa appeared on the May 6 episode of " NXT " , signing an NXT contract in a segment with William Regal . This was followed by a vignette promoting his upcoming debut . Uhaa started working NXT house show s the following month , retaining the Uhaa Nation ring name . On August 5 , it was announced that Uhaa , now working under the new ring name Apollo Crews , would be making his televised NXT debut on August 22 at " NXT Takeover VI " . Crews , however , ended up making his debut at the August 13 tapings , which would air after NXT TakeOver : Brooklyn , defeating Martin Stone . At NXT TakeOver : Brooklyn , Crews defeated Tye Dillinger in his official debut match . At the October 8 tapings of NXT , Crews won a battle royal to become the # 1 contender to the NXT Championship . Crews received his title shot against Finn Bálor on October 22 . Crews won the match via disqualification , which meant that Bálor retained his title , when he was attacked by Baron Corbin , who held a grudge against Crews for eliminating him from the number one contender ' s battle royal .