Anthony Bowens has several goals in 2022. One half of The Acclaimed spoke with USA Today about what he and Max Caster have targeted for this year and primarily for them, it’s tag team titles.
“We want tag team gold,” Bowens told Under the Ring. “We want to become the top of the division, ‘top of the chain’ as the song would say and have the straps around our waists and probably take on the top competition around the world.”
Bowens is one of the primary pro wrestlers that is openly gay and he was asked about how much carrying that torch for the LBGTQ+ community means to him. He was also asked about any thoughts he had regarding people that bring any type of hate to a public venue.
“I struggled a lot with finding myself when I was younger and as crappy as it was, there are people that go through way worse than I did so having this platform to be a positive influence and be visibile and be present in this space where people typically think it wouldn’t be a safe place for LBGTQ athletes is very important to me. I think it’s cool that I get to show the world that there’s all different shapes and sizes and personalities to being gay. There isn’t just one stereotypical image to what it is and hopefully I can provide hope for anybody who’s in the closet and dreams of one day of becoming a pro wrestler. I’m hoping I can open more doors as I continue on through my journey so all this is very, very, very important to me.”
“And in terms of the public, just Don’t be a crappy human being. Treat people with respect,” he said, noting that there was an incident related to such at an AEW event a few months back.
“Don’t bring that energy and that crap to the arena. I get it in terms of you want to yell at the bad guy and such, but leave homophobia, transphobia, racist stuff, take that crap and leave it someplace else. If that’s what you’re gonna bring to the arena don’t even show up. Yell anything else at me, I don’t care. I’m a bad guy, you know? You’re supposed to try and get under my skin, but leave all that garbage out outside someplace else or just don’t do it at all and be a good human being.”
Transcription credit should go to @DominicDeAngelo of WrestleZone
You can hear the full conversation below:
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This week on AEW 2 Dynamite Dudes On A Rampage, the degenerate DeAngelo Brothers discuss New Japan Pro-Wrestling joining forces with AEW for Forbidden Door on June 26! Plus:
- Dominic’s in-person experience of AEW in Pittsburgh!
- CM Punk vs. Dustin Rhodes!
- Adam Cole vs. Tomohiro Ishii!
- Hook’s Dynamite debut!
- Did we see a double turn with Sammy Guevara and…DAN LAMBERT?
- Jade Cargill grabs her 30th win!
- Sting’s wild ride in AEW continues with another leap!
- The Owen Hart Foundation Tournament continues to build!
- Cash Wheeler vs. Dax Harwood next week!
- And more!
AEW 2 Dynamite Dudes On A Rampage is hosted by WrestleZone and features writer Dominic DeAngelo discussing the weekly ongoings of All Elite Wrestling with his degenerate brother Marcus of AdFreeShows.com!
