AEW will make its debut in Youngstown, Ohio on Saturday night, and the event marks the one-year anniversary of “Collision.” Former AEW tag team champions The Acclaimed will be there, and Anthony Bowens talked with Youngstown Studio ahead of the show about a variety of topics including his career, pairing up with Max Caster, toy collecting and more.
Bowens also reflected on his tryouts with WWE’s NXT brand. He wasn’t offered a contract from the company, and on the same day, he also received some heartbreaking news.
“I had two NXT tryouts in 2015,” Bowens said. “I did really well physically and did horrible in the promos. They told me ‘no,’ and that was one of the hardest days of my life, because my grandma also passed that day. I got the news within like an hour of each other, so it was like a 1-2 punch to the gut. For a good month or so, I felt down and out. It was the second time in my life where I felt like everything was heavy, on top of being in the closet.”
Bowens was able to use the setbacks, however, as motivation to up his game. “I’m a very positive, determined person,” he continued. “I like to turn negatives into positives. I kind of woke up one day and said, ‘This is not how I’m gonna keep existing. I need to one, prove them wrong. And two, do this for my grandmother. So I got up and I did everything I could to transform myself into a better performer.”
Bowens would go on to train harder and he also attended acting and improv classes. “Anything to help bring out that inner personality that I knew I had. I would come to figure out (what was holding me back) was me being in the closet. Once I came out and I was able to be myself and those walls kinda came crashing down around me, I was able to authentically be me. I just used that hard work, determination and drive to really propel myself forward.”
Check out the full interview with Bowens below.
