Anthony Bowens on Original Plans for His Post-The Acclaimed Singles Run In AEW & His Memories Working With “PAC” Benjamin Satterley

Michael Fairman held a recent interview with former AEW talent Anthony Bowens. One of the topics discussed included Bowens’ thoughts about the original plans for his singles run in AEW after his The Acclaimed tag team break up with Max Caster.

“Well, what I was working towards last year was being a heel. Creative switched and it ended up going into a brief kind of Acclaimed reunion. But that’s what I think people don’t understand. They think that the return was a flop, which it wasn’t. It was made to be that way so that I can go off the deep end, blame Billy (Gunn) for my not being able to win the big matches, blame the fans for choosing (Max) Caster over me, adding to his delusion of being ‘The Best Wrestler Alive’ and then I would go into what ‘The Pride of Pro Wrestling’ was. Yes, it’s a very fun play on words but honestly it has really nothing to do with me being gay. The Pride of Pro Wrestling is an ambassador to the company that feels like he’s being overlooked and he will do anything to get his flowers. That’s really what it was. I do a lot of work for the company and I always feel like fans kind of overlooked me a little bit. They look to these other guys when I’m out making sure I’m flying the AEW flag everywhere so, I wanted to bring those emotions to the character and I had such fun ways to building that desperation of wanting people’s admiration. I was like, ‘Ouu! It’s so good.’ But, unfortunately, we were kind of left with — because it didn’t progress — we were kind of left with people going, ‘Oh, he came back and his character flopped.’ It’s like, yeah, that was the purpose. I came back as this corny superhero… Thinking that I’m gonna be the next big thing, but, I lost the big matches. Everybody was cheering for Caster and doing his clap and all of a sudden, you saw me starting to get a little bit more cocky despite losing and then why am I not winning? ‘Billy, you’re supposed to be coaching me. Bringing me to the top. You’re not doing your job, and the fans, after all I do for you, you’re cheering for the person that you hated?’ So it was a lot of real emotions balled up and I was trying to bring it to the screen but you know, what happened happened and I don’t like to dwell on anything and I’m with The Opps now and hopefully — well, I was with The Opps — we’ll see how things work out.”

Bowens also gave his thoughts about his time with The Opps (Samoa Joe, HOOK, Katsuyori Shibata & Action Andretti) in AEW.

“Being with somebody like Samoa Joe, who is a professional wrestling legend, so well respected, one of the best to ever do it. I got lucky I got to work with Billy (Gunn) and now I get to work with Joe and also at the same time, two of some of my best friends in the world in Action Andretti and HOOK. Because we have our real friend group that Tony named — or was it Cody?… I think it was Tony — named us The Lads: Me, HOOK, Dante (Martin) and Darius (Martin), Top Flight, and then we added Action on so to be able to have bits of that friendship put on television for people to see and get to work with your friends is really cool and then you got (Katsuyori) Shibata who’s just a legend in Japan and somebody you do not wanna mess with at all. You have a guy like that in your corner who’s also very knowledgeable and can teach you and mold you into hopefully a better performer. It’s pretty cool.”

Bowens also gave his thoughts about his memories of the late “PAC” Benjamin Satterley and his friendship with Satterley in AEW.

“So, Ben and I spent a lot of time together after shows. There’s a good group of us that would get together at the hotels afterwards — including The Lads — and we would just hang out and excuse my language, we’d shoot the sh*t and just talk about whatever, and I spent a lot of time with Ben in those circles just talking about different things so I do consider him a friend. Obviously, it’s sad. You just don’t know what to do, don’t know what to say. It’s someone who’s so young and so talented and all of a sudden, they’re just not there anymore and you know, their life got taken away from them. I don’t know what happened. But, I’m grateful that I was able to get in the ring with him. He was my first singles match in AEW. When people pass, it’s always, ‘He was the best, he was this,’ and oftentimes I think… not to be insensitive but… everyone just says that. But with Ben, just an incredible, sweet, humble, kind man. So it feels unfair that that happened to him and I learned a lot wrestling him and just in that one match, and it was like an eight-minute match. I learned a lot of different things and it’s not stuff that he was just verbally telling me. It was just being in the ring with him and feeling how he operates and being a good wrestler and all these things; it’s a feel. To be able to be in there with him and feel how he operates and how he paces himself and he goes about his character and how he goes about his psychology. Just watching him doing it and experience it, I learned a lot and I took those things and every singles match I got, I tried to apply that. So, I am thankful for that; I’m thankful for his friendship and I hope he rests in peace.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com 1 & 2