WrestleMania To Host First-Ever Nigerian Drum Fight

Written by Innes McVey • Published 3rd April 2021
Nigerian Drum Fight

This year’s WrestleMania is set to be historic for many reasons but now the show will obtain another accolade for the history books when it hosts the first-ever Nigerian Drum Fight!

On the latest episode of SmackDown, Apollo Crews claimed he had been disrespected by the outcome of his Intercontinental Championship challenge at Fastlane and when he faced Big E again at WrestleMania, he wanted to do it right… in a Nigerian Drum Fight!

“None of my royal Nigerian ancestors have ever been more disrespected than I was by Big E at Fastlane. And if you think I will stand for that level of deceit, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought. Nah, this time we do it the right way for the Intercontinental Championship in a Nigerian Drum Fight!

An ancient duel created by my ancestors for those who are wrong to get to make it right: No rules, no limitations, just a beating so loud it sounds like a drum. This is the fate I wish for you Big E. I challenge you to a Nigerian Drum Fight at WrestleMania!”

Judging by Crews’ description of “no rules, no limitations”, the match sounds like a rebranded No Holds Barred or No Disqualification match though there’s currently no information beyond Crews’ speech to detail what exactly the stipulation entails.

Apollo Crews and Big E have been embroiled in a heated rivalry ever since the former brutally attacked the latter, injuring him in the process. The assault came after the champion decided to let Shinsuke Nakamura have a shot at his title instead of giving Crews a rematch due to their last championship match ending in a draw.

Crews would debut a new character, dubbing himself as Nigerian royalty complete with a Nigerian accent, a spear and two Nigerian elite guards and subsequently challenged Big E to a WrestleMania match – which the champion accepted.

Find out everything else that went down on the April 2nd edition of SmackDown with our complete results coverage!