Anthony Bowens
Bowens in March 2020
Born (1990-12-18) December 18, 1990
Nutley, New Jersey, U.S.[1]
Alma materMontclair State University
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Anthony Bowens
Billed height5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[1]
Billed weight205 lb (93 kg)[1]
Billed fromNutley, New Jersey[2]
Trained byPat Buck[3]
Debut2013[4]

Anthony Bowens (born December 18, 1990)[5] is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he is one third of the current AEW World Trios Champions with Max Caster and Billy Gunn as The Acclaimed in their first reign. He and Caster are also former one-time AEW World Tag Team Champions.

Early life

Bowens was born in Nutley, New Jersey.[1] He attended Nutley High School and Montclair State University.[6] He played baseball "for eleven years",[3] including at Montclair State and Seton Hall University, playing two seasons each for the Pirates and Red Hawks.[7][8] He was discovered by professional wrestler Santino Marella, who asked him whether he had ever thought about professional wrestling.[3] He went on to train under Pat Buck.[3]

Professional wrestling career

Bowens started training in 2012 and made his professional wrestling debut in 2013.[8][4] In November 2016, he suffered a concussion during a match on WWE NXT.[9]

Once back from injury, Bowens would work prolifically for tristate and New England independent wrestling promotions like Combat Zone Wrestling and Beyond Wrestling while also making appearances for Global Force Wrestling and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.[10] He captured the WrestlePro Heavyweight Championship twice between 2016[11] and 2017.[12] On January 21, 2017, Bowens challenged Drew Galloway[13] unsuccessfully for the WCPW World Heavyweight Championship at Battle Club Pro's Fight Forever event,[14] which marked the first time the title had been defended outside of the UK.[15][16]

In November 2020, All Elite Wrestling President Tony Khan announced that Bowens, alongside Max Caster, had been signed to a five-year contract with the promotion.[17][18] The announcement also stated that Bowens and Caster would compete as a tag team named The Acclaimed.[4] In May 2022, Bowens underwent knee surgery, sidelining him for several months.[19] During this time Bowens still attended AEW shows and performed his regular promos, although did not wrestle and was using a wheelchair; Caster would subsequently team increasingly with the Gunns, with whom they had forged an alliance.[20] Bowens returned from injury at the Blood and Guts edition of Dynamite.[21]

At AEW Grand Slam 2022, The Acclaimed would win their first AEW tag team championship.[22] This made Bowens the first openly gay wrestler to become an AEW champion.[23] During this run, they would feud with, and eventually lose the titles to The Gunn Club. They would also end up forming an alliance with Billy Gunn, Austin and Colten Gunn's biological father, where he was affectionately referred to as "Daddy Ass". Bowens, Castor, and Gunn would go on to defeat The House of Black to become AEW World Trios Champions.

Personal life

Bowens is openly gay.[24] He is a fan of the San Francisco Giants, and previously worked in the production department of the MLB Network studio.[7]

Championships and accomplishments

Bowens (center, back) as AEW World Trios Champion in August 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Anthony Bowens". WrestlingData. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  2. ↑ Tessa Blanchard vs Anthony Bowens (Intergender Wrestling) iPPV Version. Title Match Wrestling. December 28, 2019. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2022 – via YouTube.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Sapp, Sean Ross (March 31, 2019). "Anthony Bowens: Five Tools". Fightful. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 Rose, Bryan (November 3, 2020). "AEW signs Anthony Bowens and Max Caster". F4Wonline.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  5. ↑ "Anthony Bowens". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Anthony Bowens – Baseball". Montclair State University. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  7. 1 2 "AEW wrestlers join MLB Central | 09/21/2021". MLB.com. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  8. 1 2 Proctor, Owen (May 25, 2017). "Nutley looks back at 60 years of pro and high school wrestling". The Record. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  9. ↑ Satin, Ryan (November 30, 2016). "Wrestler Suffers Concussion At NXT Tapings (VIDEO)". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  10. ↑ "Anthony Bowens » Career". Cage Match.
  11. ↑ "WrestlePro Gold Championship » Title Reigns". Cage Match.
  12. ↑ "WrestlePro Gold Championship » Title Reigns". Cage Match.
  13. ↑ Drew Galloway & Anthony Bowens Brawl Backstage at BattleClub Pro. January 23, 2017. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022 – via YouTube.
  14. ↑ Battle Club Pro-Anthony Bowens vs Drew Galloway (WCPW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP). Battle Club Pro. February 28, 2017. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022 – via YouTube.
  15. ↑ "New Phenom: The ICW World Heavyweight Championship Reign of Drew Galloway". November 2022.
  16. ↑ Battle Club Pro- WCPW World Heavyweight Champion Drew Galloway on opportunities. Battle Club Pro. January 7, 2017. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved December 3, 2022 – via YouTube.
  17. ↑ Lambert, Jeremy (November 3, 2020). "AEW Signs Anthony Bowens And Max Caster To Contracts, Bowens And Caster Comment". Fightful. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  18. ↑ Lee, Joseph (December 4, 2020). "Note On How Long Recent AEW Contracts Are For Younger Talent". 411Mania. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  19. ↑ "Out AEW wrestler Anthony Bowens is out with a knee injury". OutSports. May 25, 2022. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Anthony Bowens Discusses Missing Time With A Knee Injury, Wanting AEW Tag Team Gold". Fightful. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Anthony Bowens Walks; Billy Gunn Sides With The Acclaimed Over His Sons At 6/29 AEW Blood And Guts". Fightful. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  22. ↑ Casey, Connor (September 21, 2022). "The Acclaimed Win The AEW World Tag Team Championships at AEW Grand Slam". Comic Book.com. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  23. ↑ Sprayregen, Molly (September 22, 2022). "Anthony Bowens is the first out gay All Elite Wrestling champion". LGBTQ Nation.
  24. ↑ Barrasso, Justin (December 6, 2019). "Anthony Bowens: Gay wrestling star embraces being LGBT role model". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  25. ↑ "Official AEW World Tag Team Championship Title History". All Elite Wrestling. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
  26. ↑ "BCP Anything You Can Do". Cage Match.
  27. ↑ "IWF Junior Heavyweight Championship". Cage Match.
  28. ↑ Staszewski, Joseph (December 27, 2022). "The Post's 2022 pro wrestling awards". New York Post. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  29. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2021". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
  30. ↑ "WrestlePro Gold Championship". Cage Match.
  31. ↑ "WrestlePro Dream 16 - Tag 2". Cage Match.
  32. ↑ Jaymond P (February 24, 2023). "2022 Wrestling Observer Awards Results". WrestlePurists. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  33. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (February 2023). "February 2023 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Results of the 2022 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards". Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
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