Anthony Bowens, one half of AEW Tag Team Champions The Acclaimed recently appeared on Insight With Chris Van Vliet. The most notable quotes from the show are below:

On what being a champion in AEW means to Anthony Bowens:

“It means a lot. It means a whole lot. I mean, Max and I came into the company in October of 2020. And less than two years later, we are at the top of the tag division, we’re at the top of the world. It’s a moment that I had been working for. Obviously, I didn’t know I was going to  win the Tag Team titles but winning a championship and a major company with all the hard work and all the sacrifices that went into, you know, becoming a professional wrestler and getting to this level to have that moment. It’s awesome. It’s cool.”

On being homegrown AEW talent:

“I hope that we can be at least like an example for other talent that comes in to see that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Not that there isn’t but just like, hey, like, how can I get to the top of this company? How can I really achieve something? So I hope the blueprint that we set is a good example for other homegrown talent.”

On Max Caster’s raps:

“So yeah, I’m grateful to have you know, every time when the siren hit, people lose their minds, because they want to hear what Caster has to say. Because you never know what he’s gonna say. That’s the beauty of him having a live microphone. We hit on just about everything, which seems to make people upset with certain things. But it’s just like, if it’s news, like, we don’t operate within the realm of we have to live in a bubble of just our company. If it’s news, if it’s out there, if it happened, it’s up for grabs. And you know, obviously, if it’s tasteful. But, you know, we will touch on anything. And that’s the way it’s gonna continue to be. So get used to it.”

Has Anthony Bowens re-watched his debut:

“I can’t. I’m dead serious, I cannot watch it because it was very awkward. And basically that was the same day that we had a meeting with Tony, that was the first time we ever met like Tony face-to-face, and that’s when he told us that we were going to be The Acclaimed and that was basically our try out match, it was against Best Friends. And we didn’t know what The Acclaimed was. We just knew that Max rapped and Cody told me, the only piece of information I was given was from Cody and he said just whatever dis Caster says, it’s the craziest, best thing you’ve ever heard in your entire life. That was the only thing I got. And I had to figure out who I was under the umbrella of The Acclaimed. But two hours later, after meeting Tony, I had no idea what that was. So we came out and there was no theme music, so everything was just like it’s acapella. He did the rap, and I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m like that was a good one. Yeah, it was terrible. I will never [watch the entrance]. I’ll watch the match, the match was great. I will not watch the entrance.”

On Billy Gunn:

“Billy has been a big part of our presentation. And honestly, that whole dynamic we had with him and his kids was the perfect storm to lead to everything that happened. Because I was hurt at the time, and I was hurt. Caster was just having singles matches, we, you know, fluctuate back and forth between TV and Dark. And the same thing was happening with The Gunn Club. And I’ll be honest with you, before they ruined everything and they became selfish pieces of sh*t, we were pretty good friends with The Gunn Club. Like we had a good dynamic, we had a good rapport, we would hang out before the show and like laugh about the most ridiculous things. And Caster was the one that said hey, I think we should do something with these guys. I don’t know what, because we were having so much fun together. And one day I was sitting on the beach, very relaxed, and I just came up with this way to put us together and I needed a reason to be on television with my injury. And we could do this thing where we all come together, we can do it, you know, on Dark, it doesn’t matter. We just want to do something and prove that we are useful to the TV show that we can eventually be on Dynamite every single week. And we started doing it and then the people loved it. And they started picking up on the dynamic between Billy, me and Billy, him pushing me in the wheelchair.”

On the origin of Scissor Me Daddy Ass:

“One day, it was probably about five minutes before we went out to, I think it was Rampage? I think it was a battle royale on Rampage. And I was sitting in the wheelchair and I was giggling to myself. I was trying to figure out a way to end our entrance, because Max would rap I would get the crowd to yell ass boys, but I didn’t have an ending. And I just giggled to myself and I thought I think I’m just gonna say scissor me Daddy Ass. I don’t know why that popped into my head, but I started laughing. Literally me like sitting in the wheelchair in gorilla just like laughing at it. And then I didn’t tell anybody, I think I had told Billy, I think I’m gonna say scissor me Daddy Ass. He didn’t say anything. I just remember he just smiled at me and he walked away. And that was it. Five minutes later, when I screamed it on Rampage, I came back, I looked around, no one said anything to me. I was like, okay, so I guess that was okay. And then it was trending. And then I started to see the signs, that’s when you know. I’ve got to say this every single week.”

On original plans for the Daddy Ass Birthday Bash:

“Yes, yes, yes, yes. And I don’t like pulling the curtain too far back. But I will say that the Daddy Ass Birthday Bash celebration. I thought it would be a fun idea, and I did put it together. What you saw people enjoyed, but was about maybe 30 or 40% of what I had originally planned. [Chris – Were you going to invite Chuck Palumbo?] He was going to be my birthday gift. I thought the irony of me reuniting Billy and Chuck would be perfect for this birthday bash. But he wasn’t available. I don’t like putting things out there. But like, I really want people [to know this one].”

Featured image: APP