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Anthony Bowens is no stranger to wrestling at tennis venues having won the AEW World Tag Team Championship with Max Caster at Arthur Ashe Stadium when The Acclaimed beat Swerve In Your Glory at Dynamite Grand Slam in 2022.
Bowens returns to a different tennis venue in Louis Armstrong Stadium to join Katsuyori Shibata and Hook as The Opps face The Death Riders (Claudio Castagnoli & Daniel Garcia & Wheeler Yuta) at the Double or Nothing PPV Buy In on May 24. Bowens said he looks back at the match at Grand Slam where he won the AEW World Tag Team Championship as one of the last times he remembers being super nervous about something.
“That was probably one of the last times I was super nervous about something because, you know, that’s a big moment in our careers,” said Bowens in a new exclusive interview on Radican Worldwide available now for PWTorch VIP members. “And there were a lot of people there. There was a lot of pressure and what I remember most is, one, when we won, the whole floor and ring shaking. It was just like, it was that thunderous.”
Bowens looks back at the moment and says the most important part of that moment for him was that he had his friends and family were there to see him win the tag titles. “And then the most important part for me was I had my friends and my family there and I didn’t realize where my parents were sitting, but when we won and I was hanging over the ropes, I looked up and the first person I saw was my dad,” said Bowens.
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“And that, to this day, just talking about it, I start getting teary-eyed because it’s just so cool. You know, my dad who got me into wrestling and I don’t know. It’s just, I made him proud. I mean I always made him proud, but just in that moment of him and my mother draining their bank accounts to put me through college. And then me going ‘Eh, I think I’m going to do this wrestler thing,’ (laughs) like this wrestling thing. To show them that it was all very, very worth it and they got to experience, it was two thumbs up.”
Bowens has previous experience wrestling at a tennis venue, but he is wrestling at Louis Armstrong Stadium for the first time this weekend. Turning his attention to his six man tag match against The Death Riders at the Double or Nothing PPV Buy In on May 24, Bowens was blunt when asked what fans can expect from the match.
“Violence,” said Bowens. “Simple as that. I wanna win. I’ve spent a lot of time, like I said, over the last year figuring stuff out and coming up short. I’m tired of that. I’m tired of that. The Death Riders, I would like to say, I’m gonna go in there and beat the hell out of them and take a W, and it’ll be easy, but the Death Riders are not easy.
“Claudio is one of the strongest men pound-for-pound in professional wrestling, so that’s tough in itself. Garcia and Yuta are so technically proficient as performers. You have to be on your game with those guys and they can get violent, too. They’ve been under Mox’s umbrella for such a long time. Like, they have that side of them. So, it’s going to be a tough one.”
Bowens believes his partners in The Opps have their own set of strengths to counter what The Death Riders bring to the table in the ring. “But, I’ve got Shibata, who is one of the toughest men in pro wrestling, in Japanese wrestling history,” said Bowens. “I’ve got Hook, who can judo throw you at any position, that can tap you out at any position, that if you even let up for a second.
“Then you got myself, who’s a former tag team champion, trios champion, technically proficient. Violent. I do it all. I may not flip and stuff, but I don’t need to. I just need to punch you in the face and right now I don’t have a specific strategy. Hopefully it works out for the best for the three of us. But I’m going to be looking to rip some arms off and I’m hoping New York City gives me the standing ovation that I deserve.”
NOTE: Sign up here and GO VIP to listen to Anthony Bowens’s exclusive interview on Radican Worldwide talking about ahead of the AEW Double or Nothing PPV on May 24. Double or Nothing will be available on most PPV providers, HBO Max, and PPV.com. You can watch the Buy In pre-show for free on HBO Max or YouTube.
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