Anthony Bowens (born December 18, 1990) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

, currently signed to

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, ...

(AEW) where he teams with Max Caster as The Acclaimed. They are former one-time AEW World Tag Team Champions.

Early life

Bowens was born in

Nutley, New Jersey Nutley is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 30,143. What is now Nutley was originally incorporated as Franklin Township by an act of the New Jersey Legisl ...

. He attended Nutley High School and

Montclair State University Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New ...

. He played baseball "for eleven years", including at Montclair State and

Seton Hall University Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesan u ...

, playing two seasons each for the Pirates and Red Hawks. He was discovered by professional wrestler

Santino Marella Anthony Carelli (born March 14, 1974) is a Canadian judoka and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is known for his 11-year tenure with WWE where he wrestled under the ring name Santino Marella. He is the founder of and instructor at Battle A ...

, who asked him whether he had ever thought about professional wrestling. He went on to train under

Pat Buck Patrick Buckridge (born December 24, 1984), better known by the ring name Pat Buck, is an American professional wrestler and promoter, currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as the Vice President of Talent Development and as a coach. He wa ...

Professional wrestling career

Bowens started training in 2012 and made his professional wrestling debut in 2013. In November 2016, he suffered a concussion during a match on ''

WWE NXT ''WWE NXT'', also known as ''NXT'', is an American professional wrestling television program. It is produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, featuring performers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The show curren ...

''. Once back from injury, Bowens would work prolifically for tristate and New England independent wrestling promotions like

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion. In 1998, John Zandig and five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with trainer Jon Dahmer, began to run professional wrestling ...

and Beyond Wrestling while also making appearances for

Global Force Wrestling Global Force Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2014 by Jeff Jarrett, the co-founder and former President of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now known as Impact Wrestling), and his wife Karen Jarrett. It is ow ...

and

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the pro ...

. He captured the WrestlePro Heavyweight Championship twice between 2016 and 2017. On January 21, 2017, Bowens challenged Drew Galloway unsuccessfully for the WCPW World Heavyweight Championship at Battle Club Pro's Fight Forever event, which marked the first time the title had been defended outside of the UK. In November 2020,

President

Tony Khan Antony Rafiq Khan (born October 10, 1982) is an American businessman, promoter, and sports executive. He is known for his involvement in American football, professional wrestling and soccer. He is best known as the founder and co-owner of All ...

announced that Bowens, alongside Max Caster, had been signed to a five-year contract with the promotion. The announcement also stated that Bowens and Caster would compete as a tag team named The Acclaimed. In May 2022, Bowens underwent knee surgery, sidelining him for several months. During this time Bowens still attended AEW shows and performed his regular promos, although did not wrestle and was confined to a wheelchair; Caster would subsequently team increasingly with the Gunns, with whom they had forged an alliance. Bowens returned from injury at the '' Blood and Guts'' edition of ''Dynamite''. At AEW Grand Slam 2022, The Acclaimed would win their first AEW tag team championship. This made Bowens the first openly gay wrestler to become an AEW champion.

Personal life

Bowens is openly gay. He is a fan of the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

, and previously worked in the production department of the

MLB Network The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through Turner Sports, its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communication ...

studio.

Championships and accomplishments

AEW World Tag Team Championship The AEW World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a standard tag team championship, being contested by teams of two wrestlers ...

( 1 time) - with Max Caster *Battle Club Pro **BCP Franchise Championship (1 time) *

Independent Wrestling Federation The Independent Wrestling Federation (IWF) is a professional wrestling promotion based in Nutley, New Jersey. The IWF features upcoming talent, in some cases, which have made it to the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Along with producing liv ...

** IWF Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publis ...

'' **Ranked No. 304 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publis ...

'' in 2021 *WrestlePro **WrestlePro Gold Championship (3 times, current) **Dream 16 (2019)

References

External links

*
Montclair State bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowens, Anthony 1990 births Living people AEW World Tag Team Champions African-American male professional wrestlers All Elite Wrestling personnel American male professional wrestlers American YouTubers Gay sportsmen LGBT people from New Jersey LGBT professional wrestlers American LGBT sportspeople Montclair State Red Hawks baseball players Montclair State University alumni Nutley High School alumni People from Nutley, New Jersey Professional wrestlers from New Jersey Seton Hall Pirates baseball players Sportspeople from Essex County, New Jersey 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century American LGBT people LGBT baseball players 21st-century professional wrestlers