Tag: Anthony Bowens

Anthony Bowens confirms he didn’t know Billy Gunn would retire on AEW Collision

Anthony Bowens said his on-camera emotion was real when Billy Gunn took his boots off on AEW Collision a few weeks ago.

After The Acclaimed tried and failed to take the AEW World Trios Championship from the House of Black on the July 22 episode of AEW Collision, fans were stunned when Billy Gunn (known while teaming with The Acclaimed as Daddy Ass) took off his boots and left them in the ring, a time-honored tradition that signals retirement.

Actually, it wasn’t just fans who were surprised: Anthony Bowens of The Acclaimed was visibly shocked as well, and he says his reaction was 100% legitimate.

Bowens told the Chris Distefano Presents: Chrissy Chaos podcast (h/t Fightful for the transcription) that he had no idea that moment was coming, making his emotion all the more real.

No, I really didn’t. I don’t think the cameras caught it, but I get very emotional when I’m out there because I get connected to the audience, I don’t think I’ve cried in a wrestling ring. I got teary eyed because he stood up and his face was beat red, and at this point in our careers where Billy has been such a beacon of light for us, he’s been guiding us from the beginning since we joined up with him last year. He guided us to the AEW Tag Team Titles in New York City. He’s been teaching us a ton of stuff every single week. To think about not having him out there with us, it hurts.

Bowens added that he and partner Max Caster had been talking to Gunn about potentially changing his mind, though The Acclaimed appeared on the Aug. 5 episode of Collision and said Daddy Ass was going to stay retired.

One thing that will probably live on even if we’ve seen the last of Gunn in the ring: The Acclaimed’s scissoring gimmick, which could even be seen in parts of the crowd at events like WWE SummerSlam this past weekend. Daddy Ass may have caught even his teammates off-guard when he took off the boots, but he definitely won’t be forgotten.

Opening Bell: Full Gear week, plus a Mizpology

Get set for the week in WWE and AEW with Opening Bell: quick previews of Raw, SmackDown, Dynamite and Rampage.

Welcome to the Opening Bell, where we round up what’s been announced for WWE (Raw and SmackDown) and AEW (Dynamite and Rampage) programming for the week we’ve just begun.

WWE Raw preview – Monday, November 14, KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, KY

Any show with “Yum!” in the name of the venue can’t help but appear fun (and yes, we know that’s an actual part of the company’s name). What could be truly entertaining is seeing The Miz apologize for what he’s done with regard to Dexter Lumis. But will it be a sincere act of contrition, or simply to save his own hide? History doesn’t make the former a favorite, let’s just say that.

Finn Balor attempted to accept Seth Rollins‘ open challenge for the United States Championship last week but had those plans derailed by The O.C. This week he’ll get his shot at Rollins … but not for the title. Oh well.

Also, Matt Riddle will continue his ongoing feud with Alpha Academy when he goes one-on-one with Chad Gable. We don’t have anything witty to add to this one, so we’ll just say it sounds like a good matchup and there will probably be bongo/weed jokes of some sort involved.

AEW Dynamite preview – Wednesday, November 16, Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport, CT

Ayyyyy let’s get some mortgages everyone! Jokes aside, AEW is trying to come into Full Gear hot as it heads to Connecticut for the final Dynamite before Saturday’s PPV.

Two big multi-person matches are on tap. Bryan Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli will team up to face Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara just three days before all four of them throw down for Jericho’s ROH World Championship. Plus Death Triangle, which has had some stirrings of internal dissent lately, tries to get on the same page as they take on Top Flight and AR Fox.

(And they may need to be if a certain trio of shadowbanned stars are coming back at Full Gear.)

We’ll hear from both Jon Moxley and MJF ahead of their titanic main event in Newark. The Acclaimed will debut their new music video. Plus more:

WWE SmackDown preview – Friday, November 18, XL Center, Hartford, CT

Wow, Connecticut is the center of the pro wrestling world this week, at least for a few days! We know a bit more about what’s going to be in store on SmackDown than we often do at the beginning of the week as well.

For starters, the first round of the SmackDown World Cup isn’t over yet, so Butch and Sami Zayn will have their bout this Friday. It’s also an extension of the beef between the Bloodline and the Brawling Brutes, which just heated up again last week. Another first round match will pit Ricochet against Mustafa Ali in what’s sure to be a high-flying encounter.

In the women’s division, Shotzi earned her shot at Ronda Rousey by emerging from a Six-Pack Challenge match last week, but she immediately ran afoul of the champ and her BFF Shayna Baszler. She’ll get a chance at some payback on SmackDown, at least when it comes to Baszler.

AEW Rampage preview – Friday, November 18, Prudential Center, Newark

‘Twas the night before Full Gear, and we have a sense that pretty much everyone will be stirring as the final teeth on the gears lock into place. And there’s a crazy dream match of the type you can hardly believe is on U.S. TV to boot: Eddie Kingston and Ortiz vs. Jun Akiyama and Kunosuke Takeshita. Seriously, read that again and go “wow.”

We actually don’t know what else is on the Rampage slate, but one assumes there might be more tournament matches, and perhaps it will be confirmed The Elite is returning. It’s a Rampage that has more than the typical amount of intrigue, for sure.