Sesugh Isaac Uhaa (born August 22, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is performing as a freelancer under the ring name Uhaa Nation. He is best known for his tenure in WWE under the ring name Apollo Crews.
Uhaa started his career in 2009, first working under the ring name Uhaa Nation, 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.
He signed with WWE in 2015 and was assigned to the NXT brand, where he was given the ring name Apollo Crews. 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. He was released from WWE in 2026 and debuted for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA ) as well as returning to Dragongate that same year, reverting back to his Uhaa Nation name.
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.
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Early life
Sesugh Uhaa was born on August 22, 1987, in Sacramento, California, and was raised in the Atlanta, Georgia suburb of Stone Mountain. He became a fan of professional wrestling at an early age, particularly becoming a fan of performers such as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, The Rock, and Kurt Angle. He went to a military high school and began practicing various sports, including amateur wrestling, soccer, football, and track and field, as both an outlet and a way to "get away from the military life". 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". Uhaa attended Auburn University, leaving before finishing to pursue his wrestling career; he graduated in 2025 from Keiser University.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (2009–2011)
After leaving college in 2008, Uhaa quickly got a job in order to pay for his professional wrestling training. He began training at the age of 21 under 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" (a nickname given to him during high school) 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 (2011–2015)
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 Way of the Ronin, 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 through 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 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. 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. However, during the match, Uhaa suffered a knee injury, which sidelined him for 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. 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. 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. On May 23, it was reported that Uhaa had signed a new contract with Dragon Gate USA.
WWE (2014–2026)
In October 2014, Uhaa took part in a WWE tryout camp, resulting in a developmental contract offer. 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 its NXT developmental brand, on April 6, 2015. WWE officially announced Uhaa as part of a new class of NXT recruits in an April 13 press release. Uhaa made his first televised appearance on the May 6 episode of NXT, signing an NXT contract in a segment with William Regal. Uhaa started working NXT house shows the following month, retaining the Uhaa Nation ring name.
On August 5, it was announced that Uhaa, under the new ring name "Apollo Crews", would make his televised NXT in-ring debut on August 22 at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, where he defeated Tye Dillinger, establishing himself as a face. Crews made his NXT debut on September 2, defeating Martin Stone. At NXT TakeOver: Respect on October 7, Crews defeated Tyler Breeze. On the October 14 episode of NXT, Crews won a battle royal to become the number one contender to the NXT Championship. Crews received his title shot against Finn Bálor on the November 4 episode of NXT, winning the match by disqualification after he was attacked by Baron Corbin, who held a grudge against Crews for eliminating him from the battle royal. On December 16, at NXT TakeOver: London, Crews lost to Corbin, marking his first pinfall loss in WWE. Crews then started a feud with Elias Samson, defeating him on the April 6 episode of NXT.
On April 4, 2016, Crews made his main roster debut on Raw, defeating Breeze. He remained undefeated over the following weeks, defeating the likes of Curtis Axel, Adam Rose, Heath Slater and Stardust. On the May 23 episode of Raw, Crews lost to Chris Jericho in a Money in the Bank qualifying match due to a pre-match attack by Sheamus. Crews defeated Sheamus on June 19 at Money in the Bank.
As part of the draft on July 19, Crews was drafted to the SmackDown brand. On the August 2 episode of SmackDown, Crews defeated Kalisto and Corbin in a triple threat match to become the number one contender to the Intercontinental Championship. At SummerSlam on August 21, he failed to win the title from The Miz. Crews lost to Corbin on September 11 during the Backlash pre-show. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 4, Crews teamed with American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) and The Hype Bros (Mojo Rawley and Zack Ryder), defeating Curt Hawkins, The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) and The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) in a 10-man tag team match.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2026)
At Slammiversary on June 28, 2026, Uhaa made his debut in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) under his old name "Uhaa Nation", competing in a triple threat match for the TNA International Championship against Mustafa Ali and Rich Swann; Nation failed to win as Ali retained the title.
Return to Dragongate (2026–present)
On September 12, 2026 at Toyko Infinity Hectopascal, Uhaa made his return to Dragongate (formerly Dragon Gate) after eleven years, where he teamed with XenisS (Kota Minoura and Yuki Yoshioka) to defeat Gajadokuro (Jason Lee, KAI, and Madoka Kikuta).
Other media
Personal life
Uhaa is of Nigerian descent, with both his parents originally hailing from Benue State, in the middle belt region of Nigeria. His father comes from the town of Vandeikya. His sister is in the United States Army and stationed in San Antonio, Texas.
Uhaa is married to Linda Palonen. They have two children.
Championships and accomplishments
Dragon Gate
Open the Twin Gate Championship (1 time) – with BxB Hulk
Dragon Gate USA
Best Newcomer (2011)
Full Impact Pro
FIP Florida Heritage Championship (1 time)
Great Championship Wrestling
GCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Preston City Wrestling
PCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Ranked No. 65 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2021
World Wrestling Alliance 4
WW4A Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Magic
WW4A Internet Championship (1 time)
WWE
WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)
WWE United States Championship (1 time)
