Anthony Bowens Details 'I'm Gay' Segment In AEW

Anthony Bowens may have won tag team and trios gold during his five years with AEW, but arguably his most memorable, and heartwarming, moment during that time was a segment the June 23, 2023 episode of "AEW Rampage," where he rejected the advances of Harley Cameron by stating "I'm gay." The line got a huge reaction from the Chicago crowd, and has continued to be talked about years later as a moment of positive LGBTQ+ representation. In an interview with "Michael Fairman," Bowens touched on its impact and how it came about, revealing that AEW had planned a segment like this for earlier, though this particular moment was pitched by QT Marshall.

"He was like 'It's Pride month, and we should be doing stuff with you,'" Bowens said. "'Why don't we do a fun segment? I have this idea where, you know, Harley's character is this kind of not so smart blonde woman. She's just like really flirty into you and just not catching the hint that I'm gay. We'll have this big in-ring segment where she throws herself at you, she serenades you, and you just drop the bomb on her.'"

Bowens loved the idea, particularly because it was lighthearted as opposed to being super serious. Ultimately, his only complaint about the segment was that it didn't take place live, leading to the segment being cut down a few minutes to fit TV, leaving out some of the crowd reaction towards himself and Cameron.

"They booed that woman so loudly that when she was doing the rap...to me, I couldn't hear what she was saying," Bowens said. "I literally looked at Billy [Gunn], who's standing next to me, and said 'Can you hear her?' And he's like 'Nope!' There was just a consistent boo, and then when I flipped it around and dropped the bomb on her, everyone...same thing. They were chanting. Billy was laughing like 'I can't believe this is happening.' Max [Caster] was jumping around. It was a really cool moment."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Michael Fairman Channel" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription