Anthony Bowens Recalls What WWE Told Him After Not Signing Him In 2015

The Acclaimed's Anthony Bowens and Max Caster are one of the most over tag teams in All Elite Wrestling right now, receiving deafening receptions every time they come on AEW shows. This is something Bowens had to work on, however, as he was once rejected from "WWE NXT" in 2015 for his lack of personality. 

"I didn't have a character, I was bland, I was just a blue chip athlete," Bowens told "The Sports Courier." I was still in the closet so I had these walls up around me subconsciously. I wasn't able to be myself, so I get it but it lit a fire under me because – and that's actually where the five tool player came from – it lit a fire under me that I wanted to prove these guys wrong. So I went out, I started taking acting classes, sketch comedy classes, I ended up landing and agent in New York, so I've done like eight national commercials since then: Lunchables, Domino's Pizza, Optimum Online, a bunch of those things."

Being an out and proud LBTQ+ man helped Bowens comfortably transform into the person he is today alongside his tag team partner and his real-life partner. "Now that my boyfriend and I are out in LA, we're trying to grow our YouTube channel that we started back in 2016, which we've gotten up to like 215,000 subs, and I'd love to dive into some TV and film to lay the foundation for after pro wrestling because I'd like to do this until I'm very old or can't physically do it anymore."

On Wednesday at "AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam," Bowens and Caster will have the opportunity to win the AEW World Tag Team Championships from "Swerve" Strickland and Keith Lee, also known as Swerve in our Glory.