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Anthony Bowens Recalls His First AEW Appearance, Tony Khan Pitching Idea For The Acclaimed

July 5, 2022 | Posted by Blake Lovell
AEW Dark The Acclaimed Image Credit: AEW

In a recent interview on Talk Is Jericho, Anthony Bowens discussed being offered a contract by WWE after his first AEW appearance, Tony Khan pitching the idea for The Acclaimed, and much more. You can read his comments below.

Anthony Bowens on being offered a contract by WWE after his first AEW appearance: ”I fly down in October and worked a Dark in Jacksonville in empty Daily’s Place against Luther and Serpentico. Kind of a fun match. Actually, the night before that, I was a minute from going out and they scrapped the match because someone got hurt. I was just so defeated, but then I got a match the next day. It aired two weeks later cause we were taping everything in advance, and about maybe 12 hours after that, the next morning, I get a message on Twitter from WWE. ‘Hey, we want you to talk to [William] Regal.’ I talk to Regal, and I hadn’t heard anything from AEW and didn’t know who to contact. But then [WWE] offered me a deal the next day and I said yes.”

On Tony Khan pitching the idea for The Acclaimed: “Somewhere along the lines, Tony [Khan] found out about this and offered me to come down and meet him. They hadn’t sent me a contract yet, and this was maybe two or three weeks after I said yes, so I was like, ‘You know what, it wouldn’t hurt to hear this guy out and see what he says.’ So I flew down to Jacksonville and as I was going there, I get into the elevator and there is Max Caster. I’m like, ‘What are you doing here?’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, I’m here to talk to Tony.’ I’m like, ‘Well, I’m here to talk to Tony.’ And then we found out that we were there to talk to Tony together, and we were trying to figure out what was happening, and then we get brought into TK’s office and he’s like, ‘I have this idea for you two. I like you guys, I’d like to call you guys ‘The Acclaimed.’ And we’re like, ‘Okay, that’s awesome,’ but also, at the same time, I just said yes to NXT. Like, it’s a risk bcause if you don’t like me, then this match airs and then they see that and then I’m screwed. And he’s like, ‘Don’t worry about it. Go out and have this match.’ We went out, we worked Best Friends, we had a great match, came back through the curtain, and I saw him give a thumbs up. And I wanted to be here in the first place when the place first opened, my focus shifted here. Everything was just telling me I needed to be here.”

If using any of the above quotes, please credit 83 Weeks with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.

article topics :

AEW, Anthony Bowens, Blake Lovell