Trick Williams Recalls Playing Bodyguard For Apollo Crews, Says He Got COVID After

Trick Williams made an appearance as a Nigerian bodyguard for Apollo Crews before he became a star in NXT, and he recently recalled the experience. Williams appeared on the March 5th, 2021 episode of Smackdown as a bodyguard for Crews, who was in the middle of his Nigerian royalty gimmick. That was about five months before he made his debut on WWE NXT.

Williams reflected on the one-off during his appearance on the No-Contest Wrestling Podcast. He noted that he was picked because he had Nigerian ancestry, and that his run as Crews’ backup ended when he contracted COVID. You can see highlights below (per Fightful):

On Being Brought In For the Role:

“It’s like my second week of even being employed in WWE. I didn’t know which way the camera was, I didn’t know nothing. Brand new. Happy to be there. They said, ‘We need you on SmackDown. We looked at your ancestry roots and saw that you are 32.2% Nigerian, so we need you to be a Nigerian bodyguard.’ Alright, cool. I meet Apollo, he’s dope. Denzel Dejournette was the other guard. That’s the first time I met the people in Gorilla at the time, which was a cool moment for me. The next week, we were coming to do it again and Apollo is hype, this is a new character for him. The pressure is on and at this point, I know who Apollo is and I don’t want to mess this up for him. He’s getting a push.”

On COVID Sending Him Back to NXT:

“A couple days before, we had this ring build at NXT where everybody is together, and somebody must’ve had COVID. That wasn’t good because it must’ve spread. I didn’t know that I had COVID. I rode down to Tampa with Denzel, and he didn’t know that he had COVID. We have to get tested to enter the building because the protocol is serious. We both get tested and they said, ‘Both of you tested positive for COVID. You are not needed for SmackDown.’ As soon as they told me, my heart dropped, and I instantly had a cough in my throat. It jumped on me as soon as they told me. Long story short, SmackDown said, ‘We’re gonna leave them in NXT because we don’t need you and your COVID here messing up things for Apollo.’ It was a short in and out thing, which all worked out for the best. I needed to be in NXT to learn what was going on anyway.”