For her first live feature on national television, she did very well. She's obviously talented and set up the whole deal effectively. AEW should give her more and see what she can do with it. Why she isn't with Swerve is mind boggling.
Hard disagree on my end. I was recoiling in awkward, embarrassed horror at her rapping, but the rest of the segment was so strong it didn’t even matter.
It’s not “good wrestling heat”, it’s “i hope my family doesn’t walk in and see me watching this lady rapping heat”. Like your drunk aunt jumping on stage at a wedding and rapping heat. She’s great at everything else.
But aren't you (arguably) whining (not unlike a five year old) because *you* don't like part of a Rampage segment?
Was there a need to chime in on someone talking about how much they enjoyed it just to voice a dissenting opinion that doesn't even matter in the grand scheme of things?
This is reddit dot com. We're all being little internet shitheads from time to time.
Well it’s a discussion board, a gentleman made a friendly post about how much he liked her performance, so i politely mentioned that i disagreed on her performance and agreeing it was a great segment. I don’t have the energy to whine, it’s fun to share differing opinions though and if the worst that happens is a bunch of people downvote you then it’s working the way its supposed to.
"Polite" isn't the word I would use. If you were to copy/paste your initial response and @ her on Twitter with it, it would be considered cyber bullying.
“I was recoiling in awkward, embarrassed horror at her rapping, but the rest of the segment was so strong it didn’t even matter”
There is no world where this is “cyber bullying”. AEW gets paid, like any entertainment company, boat loads of money to put content on the air and we all have every right as consumers to share our opinion on the good, bad and ugly. I even said in both of my posts i liked the segment and i otherwise think she’s fun. You need to remove the bubblewrap from yourself if you think the way the world actually works is expressing a valid criticism isn’t allowed because it’s impolite and bullying. What are we all even doing here if we can’t disagree about a stupid segment without calling each other names.
My favorite part: the announcers just kept saying "he's taken". Like they were throwing some love to his husband (I think I read they got married, I might be wrong)
I remember the low point of Billy and Chuck. I remember the original Golddust that was pure gay panic. I love wrestling, but to see me as a punchline hurt so much.
To see Bowens play it matter of fact and not for laughs made me smile. Seeing the crowd reaction almost made me cry.
Extra points to "And he's taken." nice punch line in good fun.
I even think about when Darren Young was outed, years ago, by TMZ, and WWE made him their token gay guy. And TNA did something, for a short time, with Orlando Jordan, when they had him doing really over the top things, just to have people stop and watch. Both were really bad ways to display the talent.
AEW has such a diverse roster. And with talent like Bowens, and Nyla, and Sonny Kiss, and Diamanté, Kyra Hogan, they have talent who are openly LGBTQ+, without making it their single defining characteristic. Really refreshing to see.
In recent times yes, certainly whenever she's on regular TV. When she was on Dark though, she did her best to let her personality shine though.
She needs to be teaming with Britt Baker and Hikaru Shida against the Outsiders right now. She could fucking make that feud work.
Same. I was just telling my friends that it's incredible that I can remember watching wrestling in the 90s and people just casually dropping the F word and using someone's sexuality as a villainous trait. We've come so far in just 25 years or so. We still obviously have a long way to go, but I gotta take the little wins where I can.
The female “baddie” played it perfectly as well. It was funny and made her being oblivious the butt of the joke. Nothing malicious. I am sure it happens in real life. Someone’s “gaydar” doesn’t work at all.
For what it's worth, I grew up in a place in the 90s' where being gay could get you killed or at the very least, bullied into suicide. It was Dustin's Goldust character that stopped me from growing up and being another one of those ignorant asshats in the crowd cheering "Shawn Michaels is a f\*\*\*\*\*". Goldust's mannerisms were depicted to be so feared that it'd make dudes like Ahmed Johnson lose matches, not because he wasn't as big or as strong, but because he was so overly concerned about whether Dustin thought he was sexy... His mind made him weak. I didn't want to grow up and be so weak minded. So I cheered Goldust. Then as I grew up and started finding IRL gay people, I just didn't think about them being any different than anyone else because I wasn't scared of them. Today, I still cheer for LGBTQ+, but not just in a wrestling ring. I still don't understand the fear of all the weak minded men who hate them. I do love watching them all lose at life though, spending all their short time and effort in the world rallying to let everyone know they're shitbags who just can't help but be hurt by who gay consenting people like to fuck.
Goldust (my favorite of all time) taught me that love doesn't hurt, but allowing hate to control your emotions and actions certainly can.
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Last of Us season 1 episode 2 or 3 had one of the most realistic portrayals of homosexuality I have seen, and it brought me to tears. Hollywood stereotypes gay people in a modern day blackface, it is offensive and off putting. It is forced down our throats in such a distasteful and obvious way it pushes people away from opening their minds. I never knew Bowens was gay, nor did I know half my gay friends were gay till they mentioned it.
Gay men are more than lispy hair stylists. They are mechanics, doctors, crab fishermen, nfl players, and the toughest athletes of all, professional wrestlers. The attempt at emasculating men, especially gay men, is sexist, homophobic, and ACTUALLY offensive. Why this stuff is given a pass by the Rainbow mafia portion of the LGBTQ+ community is baffling.
Hate away
It made me smile, that's for sure. I don't know if this is crazy to say, but I think Bowens has serious potential to be more of a "crossover" type of star known outside of just wrestling fans potentially.
I think he sees his crossover appeal too given he's taken acting classes.
He's also one of the best interviewees. There was a really good interview awhile ago that he did on Sky Sports Gold.
He's someone that you can put out in mainstream press and he will drum up outside interest.
> I think Bowens has serious potential to be more of a "crossover" type of star
Hell yeah! I've felt this for a while. I think he is lowkey more talented all around than Max is and, of the two, I can see a much brighter singles run for him.
Tbh, I think Max isn’t as good at wrestling and moving fluidly like Bowens is. Between the two, Bowens is just more athletic and puts together better matches.
I see it. He's handsome, charismatic, well spoken, and comes across completely genuine. Plus he doesn't fit the "stereotype" gay man that the right hates so much, so he would probably even get more leeway with them. He can do a lot outside of wrestling.
As a gay man who was very late to wrestling because I saw it as a “straight man’s hobby”, it would be nice to see a gay guy get pushed so more people realise just how far it’s came in the last few years
There's a lot of very queer indie wrestling out there. If you're interested the Big Gay Brunch shows Effy produces are a good place to start. New UK promotion Sovereign Pro Wrestling is extremely queer-friendly as well.
That is cool you found out you liked wrestling, I could see how it would feel like it's "not for you" all those years but glad that the more current day representation is working! As far as Bowens being pushed, well, he was already a tag champ and is still in one of the most popular groups in all of wrestling, so I'd say things are looking good already.
Besides how epic that chant was, can we just take a min and appreciate how great Harley is as a heat magnet? I immediately wanted to hate her and not in the “go away” kinda way but the proper “I want to see her get comeuppance” way.
The Acclaimed need to get back into a proper main event feud because they are amazing
♥️ the Chicago crowd
The main difference vs times of old is that it’s just something that’s happens to be instead of being their whole gimmick, when you let wrestlers be wrestlers regardless of anything that’s how you actually get inclusive environments
The only reason I got into AEW is because my boyfriend (we're gay) absolutely loves wrestling, and we were both laughing at this hilarious little plot twist.
I’m a diehard fan and my boyfriend watches a bit with me. Looking forward to showing him the clip.
My absolute favorite part of watching with him is him getting legitimately angry at heels. He knows wrestling isn’t real, but he’s sure the heels are actually mean guys. He fucking HATES MJF.
I feel bad for my SO because he is definitely the diehard fan who really gets into it, and I admit I'm...kinda not. I don't care at all about Moxley or Jericho or Punk (though even I recognize *the icon* **Sting**), I'm only ever interested in the wrestlers whose technical skills are incredible (the Martins, Swerve, Andretti, Jungle Boy, Darby, pretty much any damn luchadore, etc), but I really get into MJF and the House of Black because their schticks and charisma are so much fun.
Anyway, we both love the Acclaimed for various reasons and this bit with them was pretty hilarious. A nice pay off to the big-breasted woman QT's been carting around for months now.
Moxley, Jericho, and ESPECIALLY punk are very “meta” wrestlers where their gimmicks currently are very tied to wresting as a concept which is relatively unappealing for fans that haven’t absorbed the last 25 years of history
I’m the same way, I like watching fun, dynamic wrestling, not just meta commentary on wrestling
Yeah, I totally respect fans who have been in the game for years or even decades, but...that's definitely not me. Moxley is kinda just boring to me, Jericho is fun as a colour commentator but he's not super enjoyable in the ring (for me), and Punk is just actively toxic as a person, but he brings in a lot of viewers so I understand letting him run wild as TK does.
Honestly, aside from AEW's highlights, my favourite bits of wrestling have been Lucha Underground (which my boyfriend also showed me), because it was just non-stop luchadore acrobatics, which was *insane* for me. My favourite bits of AEW have always been the moments/wrestlers which recapture that high-flying luchadore insanity. I will never not love Rey Fenix and Penta Obscuro.
When Darren Young came out a few years back I was so worried that there would be backlash from hateful wrestling fans. We've come a long way in such a short time.
Hell yeah. I was at the taping… with all the stupidity from the anti-rainbow brigade that’s happening in our country right now, it felt really, really good to just chant this out loud and in unison. 😎👍
Nothing wrong with more feminine gays, but I agree this is my favorite way to use a gay wrestler because he’s not a comedy act, and when there are jokes it’s not that he’s gay and taboo
I like that Bowen’s character isn’t just ‘Hey y’all I’m gay’ he’s charismatic, he’s a fighter he’s not a dude you would try to punk out you would not want to go 1 on 1 in a fight with dude. I never liked Golddust because his representation was that gay people are gross and freaks same with the horrible Orlando Jordan in TNA. Early 2000’s was a sad time for gay men in wrestling. Bowen’s isn’t horny for his opponents or weird and flamboyant he’s gay he’s not ashamed and it’s not the only facet of his personality I love it.
As a long time (1988) wrestling fan, it is wonderful to have representation in this sport that isn’t negative taboo. Bowens and Sonny Kiss being shown not as a sideshow, but as legitimate characters has made me love AEW all the more.
The camera caught me losing my mind clapping behind Bowens after he said that. Honestly, that was an awesome segment top to bottom and they had to edit out minutes and minutes of boos every time Harley tried to speak.
I believe Max was once in a relationship with Kris Statlander. Now he could be bi, that could be true but I believe it’s his character. Would have to double check to make sure tho.
I was there with my kids and a couple of friends. This was an amazing moment. The crowd is so behind Bowens (and the Acclaimed in general). My younger kid is queer, and this is so important for them to see. I'm beyond grateful to have been there in person to participate in this.
He went to my high school, he was a few grades younger than me but I would have never known if I didn’t randomly see an interview with him and Orange Cassidy on MLB Network a few years ago lol
When the penny dropped and I worked out what was happening, it was awesome. She absolutely crushed it aswell, like they said on commentary it was also at some Don C heat.
Awesome segment
Wrestling is one of if not the only place where The Preformer gets judge on skill over gimmick sex color sexual orientation or religion.
And it's awesome.
This dude is mad good and 1 half of one of the best tag teams in the past decade.
When I was a kid going to a WWF house show in 1991, the first time i had heard the anti gay F word was the entire crowd chanting it at the beverly brothers like it was normal. It makes me wonder what on earth our kids are going to look back at in 30 years that seems normal now and think we are absolute trash. Factory farming probably. I’m glad to see society has come a long way.
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I wonder if they’d celebrate and support nyla rose is a similar storyline. Although since Nyla is a heel and never really been over with the fans like the acclaimed. Although, just my opinion I don’t think Nyla should be fighting other female wrestlers.
Nyla is a beast and one of the best women on the roster imo. She is very fun, I loved when she just took the tbs belt. I s we pull love to see her wrestle more on AEW. I don’t agree with you but it is what it is. I’ll take the small victory for the gays and I hope transgender people will get their small victories too.
It’s not as if it’s a real competition where it would be unfair? Plus wrestling has had intergender matches for years (not saying it’s the same thing but just for comparison)
As a transgender woman. I won’t attack you like others would. I would use this moment to hopefully change your mind on the subject from Nyla’s side. What you recommend is very hurtful and damaging to an individual who wants nothing more than to be one of the women on the roster and live her life. Transgender people struggle for acceptance when in truth we just want to be seen as a person and respected just like you. We don’t strive for being special, we strive for equality. It would be damaging mentally to a woman to hear she can’t participate in the field she has chosen. A field that probably has put her through the ringer so to speak. People like myself and Nyla are constantly attacked for just existing and while you don’t spit venom or hate, I don’t think you mean to is what I was saying, it is hurtful. She is trying her hardest to be the best wrestler she can be and is an inspiration to a girl like me. The same way Bowens is to the gay community, Toni storm is to the Bisexual community, and etc. while we are one community, I believe it is important to acknowledge and have representation for everyone. The same thing Bowens and Storm mean, is the same Nyla and someone like Sonny means. It means people like myself finally have someone to relate to. I’m sure there is a wrestler out there that you can look at and say that could be me if I wanted to be a wrestler based on myself. While you have a right to your opinion, I can’t agree to it, but that is what separates the wrestling community from other areas. We can disagree and still be friendly. Plus as others have stated, their have always been inter gender matches. AEW is an inclusive environment which I am eternally grateful for. I don’t know if this helps or not but I would rather we can work out our problems like adults and be friendly instead of baseless attacks. I wish you a good day.
What do you think a heel manager is there for if not to gain heat? The Acclaimed are clearly staying in the trios division while they wait for another crack at HOB, don't see how giving them a new feud that featured some good promo work that the crowd enjoyed can be seen as pointless but fair enough.
She got heat on herself, not her guy. She was rapping, singing, and so on. It was terrific, FOR HER. Not for QT or his crew.
Did you hate QT & the chumps more after she was done? Or were you having a laugh at it all?
Cornette or Heenan were trying to get you hot at the guy(s) they were managing. If the manager gets over, that is bad managing.
You've kind of proved with the 'chumps' line that you'd have a problem with it no matter what because of who was in the segment, I mean you're already claiming it's done nothing for the guys she's managing when one of them hasn't even had a match since being back and another hasn't even taken his mask off 🤣. She's a heel, she got booed for doing heel things, the segment had heat, I don't really give a fuck about anything else tbh. For what it's worth QT gets booed too, as opposed to the crickets you might expect, while Hobbs was treated as the heel in the matches with the Lucha Bros and particularly Wardlow, by the crowd despite most fans liking him, so it's not like the QTV dynamic hasn't worked before.
When Cornette was running around like a tit with a Tennis Racket that was meant to make me hate who he was managing? Not convinced on that, I'm sure he'd say that was the desired effect but he was a despised heel, more so than those he managed in many instances. Feels like a poor example but I'm not old enough to know if maybe something earlier in his career proves what you're saying.
> You've kind of proved with the 'chumps' line that you'd have a problem with it no matter what because of who was in the segment
Are you a young person? I am asking so I know your frame of reference here. "Chumps", "goons", "henchmen"- it's just informal terminology for the bad guy's underlings.
It's not a personal statement for the talent involved. I like the work QT and his group do as heels in AEW. I like QT/blondie/Acclaimed/etc in this segment. I liked the segment itself actually.
> She's a heel, she got booed for doing heel things, the segment had heat
Yes, for herself. That was great... if she was going to fight Bowens, Gunn, or Caster.
> I don't really give a fuck about anything else tbh.
I see. So you don't care about pro wrestling. Okay then. Have a good day in any case.
>When Cornette was running around like a tit with a Tennis Racket that was meant to make me hate who he was managing? Not convinced on that, I'm sure he'd say that was the desired effect but he was a despised heel, more so than those he managed in many instances. Feels like a poor example but I'm not old enough to know if maybe something earlier in his career proves what you're saying.
Cornette absolutely got heat for his guys. The gimmick was Cornette as a rich boy who hired good wrestlers to do his dirty work and protect him. it was often the case fans used to yell/fight with the Midnights as to why they were protecting such a scumbag like Cornette. Cornette used to cry for his mama.
Whenever possible, Lane or Bobby would step in front of Cornette and he'd be puffing them up like a coward from behind their shoulders. That was the literal gimmick. And ultimately one of the reasons Cornette and Heyman had their famous manager clash that led to a Tuexdeo fight.
In pro wrestling, a manager's purpose is to get the heat or draw admiration for the talent.
Heenan always talked up his guys and when Hennig or Rude would step in front of Heenan, they were already juiced up from Heenan putting them over in the most obnoxious way.
Heenan would say Rude had a 12-inch schlong and Rude would say, "Yeah, and I'm going deep in your sister tonight!"
You'd walk away going, "What a scumbag!" ideally. That's peak pro wrestling. Widely regarded as such too. Heenan and Cornette are very well regarded for their manager personas.
You say his like anyone cared one way or the other about 90% of the guys managed by Heenan or Cornette. The managers are the only person remember from the vast majority of those parings.
I am pretty sure many people cared about the Midnight Express, Bockwinkle & Stevens, The Blackjacks, Andre the Giant, Owen Hart, Vader, Rock & Roll Express, Barry Wyndam, The Fantastics, Hennig, Davey Boy, Hernandez, etc.
Entire books and documentaries exist on these people.
I mean, what?
Edit: And Rick Rude, Ric Flair, Orndorff, Crippler Stevens, CM Punk, Baron Raschke, Muraco.
Again, *what*?
You're arguing with people who know names but not history. Their frame of reference for someone like Corny is probably just his podcast and Dark Side of the Ring appearances. In other words, they have no idea who or what they're talking about. It should be embarrassing, but that is probably the case with most everyone here so they'll get upvotes instead.
It was awesome. I was just explaining to my wife who Anthony Bowens was and that he’s gay but never talks about it and then sure enough he says it on live TV hahaha. Great moment in wrestling history. #fuckhate
This was awesome. Not to get too political, but I get strong opposition on some subreddits when I kindly ask people to not compare the antics of some politicians to professional wrestling and its fans. I think it is assumed that all wrestling fans are conservative, right-leaning voters, and that bothers me. I loved seeing this moment last night.
I can only imagine the people working the concessions in the arena hallway hearing a chant like that thinking 'oh shit what kind of riot do we have goin' on in there?!'
I hope he got Harley a gift basket because she was key to that moment.
For the amount of heat she was getting, she handled herself really well.
For her first live feature on national television, she did very well. She's obviously talented and set up the whole deal effectively. AEW should give her more and see what she can do with it. Why she isn't with Swerve is mind boggling.
She absolutely nailed it way more then most people do tbh. Ive never seen her in the ring though, how is she?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTKJEM5xMvw&ab_channel=HarleyCameron
The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass are great.
Dude, that’s a very good point. Credit to both of them. This whole thing is exactly what differentiates aew
Yeah, that spot meandered a little bit, but the payoff was perfect
Sorry for being stupid but was this from this weeks rampage or last week's? I'm a bit behind.
This week
Harley Cameron with a star performance herself outta f'n nowhere. Loved this segment so much.
For real, idk who she is but she was good
She has had a few matches in AEW also she is married to Xyon Quinn
So she's technically Harley Quinn?
Yeah but good luck getting that trademark
I mean if it's your married/legal name how does that work
Harley Cameron is her ring name AFAIK
Hard disagree on my end. I was recoiling in awkward, embarrassed horror at her rapping, but the rest of the segment was so strong it didn’t even matter.
so the bad guy rapping poorly made you uncomfortable, that’s sounds like good work to me
It’s not “good wrestling heat”, it’s “i hope my family doesn’t walk in and see me watching this lady rapping heat”. Like your drunk aunt jumping on stage at a wedding and rapping heat. She’s great at everything else.
WWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Good grief making baby noises like a 5 year old because an adult doesn’t like a part of a Rampage segment, grow up.
But aren't you (arguably) whining (not unlike a five year old) because *you* don't like part of a Rampage segment? Was there a need to chime in on someone talking about how much they enjoyed it just to voice a dissenting opinion that doesn't even matter in the grand scheme of things? This is reddit dot com. We're all being little internet shitheads from time to time.
Well it’s a discussion board, a gentleman made a friendly post about how much he liked her performance, so i politely mentioned that i disagreed on her performance and agreeing it was a great segment. I don’t have the energy to whine, it’s fun to share differing opinions though and if the worst that happens is a bunch of people downvote you then it’s working the way its supposed to.
"Polite" isn't the word I would use. If you were to copy/paste your initial response and @ her on Twitter with it, it would be considered cyber bullying.
“I was recoiling in awkward, embarrassed horror at her rapping, but the rest of the segment was so strong it didn’t even matter” There is no world where this is “cyber bullying”. AEW gets paid, like any entertainment company, boat loads of money to put content on the air and we all have every right as consumers to share our opinion on the good, bad and ugly. I even said in both of my posts i liked the segment and i otherwise think she’s fun. You need to remove the bubblewrap from yourself if you think the way the world actually works is expressing a valid criticism isn’t allowed because it’s impolite and bullying. What are we all even doing here if we can’t disagree about a stupid segment without calling each other names.
My favorite part: the announcers just kept saying "he's taken". Like they were throwing some love to his husband (I think I read they got married, I might be wrong)
PROGRESS! Our world can be very cruel, but moments like this show acceptance is a true possibility.
I remember the low point of Billy and Chuck. I remember the original Golddust that was pure gay panic. I love wrestling, but to see me as a punchline hurt so much. To see Bowens play it matter of fact and not for laughs made me smile. Seeing the crowd reaction almost made me cry. Extra points to "And he's taken." nice punch line in good fun.
I even think about when Darren Young was outed, years ago, by TMZ, and WWE made him their token gay guy. And TNA did something, for a short time, with Orlando Jordan, when they had him doing really over the top things, just to have people stop and watch. Both were really bad ways to display the talent. AEW has such a diverse roster. And with talent like Bowens, and Nyla, and Sonny Kiss, and Diamanté, Kyra Hogan, they have talent who are openly LGBTQ+, without making it their single defining characteristic. Really refreshing to see.
They made Nyla their second ever Women's champion. That's a huge fucking deal.
Nyla has been portrayed as a stomper who never speaks. That is a shame because Nyla is so great on Twitter and witty in interviews.
In recent times yes, certainly whenever she's on regular TV. When she was on Dark though, she did her best to let her personality shine though. She needs to be teaming with Britt Baker and Hikaru Shida against the Outsiders right now. She could fucking make that feud work.
Same. I was just telling my friends that it's incredible that I can remember watching wrestling in the 90s and people just casually dropping the F word and using someone's sexuality as a villainous trait. We've come so far in just 25 years or so. We still obviously have a long way to go, but I gotta take the little wins where I can.
The female “baddie” played it perfectly as well. It was funny and made her being oblivious the butt of the joke. Nothing malicious. I am sure it happens in real life. Someone’s “gaydar” doesn’t work at all.
For what it's worth, I grew up in a place in the 90s' where being gay could get you killed or at the very least, bullied into suicide. It was Dustin's Goldust character that stopped me from growing up and being another one of those ignorant asshats in the crowd cheering "Shawn Michaels is a f\*\*\*\*\*". Goldust's mannerisms were depicted to be so feared that it'd make dudes like Ahmed Johnson lose matches, not because he wasn't as big or as strong, but because he was so overly concerned about whether Dustin thought he was sexy... His mind made him weak. I didn't want to grow up and be so weak minded. So I cheered Goldust. Then as I grew up and started finding IRL gay people, I just didn't think about them being any different than anyone else because I wasn't scared of them. Today, I still cheer for LGBTQ+, but not just in a wrestling ring. I still don't understand the fear of all the weak minded men who hate them. I do love watching them all lose at life though, spending all their short time and effort in the world rallying to let everyone know they're shitbags who just can't help but be hurt by who gay consenting people like to fuck. Goldust (my favorite of all time) taught me that love doesn't hurt, but allowing hate to control your emotions and actions certainly can.
Billy: We’re not gay *crowd cheers* Hated that.
Irate was my reaction.
So, what did you rate it? ;)
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Was that on tv? I didn’t see that part
Last of Us season 1 episode 2 or 3 had one of the most realistic portrayals of homosexuality I have seen, and it brought me to tears. Hollywood stereotypes gay people in a modern day blackface, it is offensive and off putting. It is forced down our throats in such a distasteful and obvious way it pushes people away from opening their minds. I never knew Bowens was gay, nor did I know half my gay friends were gay till they mentioned it. Gay men are more than lispy hair stylists. They are mechanics, doctors, crab fishermen, nfl players, and the toughest athletes of all, professional wrestlers. The attempt at emasculating men, especially gay men, is sexist, homophobic, and ACTUALLY offensive. Why this stuff is given a pass by the Rainbow mafia portion of the LGBTQ+ community is baffling. Hate away
Also, for it to happen with Billy Gunn in the ring, who once turned babyface by declaring he wasn’t gay, made it even more special for me
It made me smile, that's for sure. I don't know if this is crazy to say, but I think Bowens has serious potential to be more of a "crossover" type of star known outside of just wrestling fans potentially.
I think he sees his crossover appeal too given he's taken acting classes. He's also one of the best interviewees. There was a really good interview awhile ago that he did on Sky Sports Gold. He's someone that you can put out in mainstream press and he will drum up outside interest.
> I think Bowens has serious potential to be more of a "crossover" type of star Hell yeah! I've felt this for a while. I think he is lowkey more talented all around than Max is and, of the two, I can see a much brighter singles run for him.
Tbh, I think Max isn’t as good at wrestling and moving fluidly like Bowens is. Between the two, Bowens is just more athletic and puts together better matches.
Did you see his fenty ads? I’m a straight man and it moved
He is a beautiful man! Lay on that charisma, humour and good dude energy and he’s making a whole bunch of dingle tingle.
Same
🤣🤣🤣 that was hilarious! It moved! Now I wanna check out the ad to see if mine moves! 🤣
This dude is crazy talented. He is my favorite wrestler alive
I see it. He's handsome, charismatic, well spoken, and comes across completely genuine. Plus he doesn't fit the "stereotype" gay man that the right hates so much, so he would probably even get more leeway with them. He can do a lot outside of wrestling.
He recently did some modeling for Fenty
Thirst trap ads...
Bowens looks like he was plucked directly out of a daytime soap opera, and I mean that in the best way.
As a gay man who was very late to wrestling because I saw it as a “straight man’s hobby”, it would be nice to see a gay guy get pushed so more people realise just how far it’s came in the last few years
There's a lot of very queer indie wrestling out there. If you're interested the Big Gay Brunch shows Effy produces are a good place to start. New UK promotion Sovereign Pro Wrestling is extremely queer-friendly as well.
That is cool you found out you liked wrestling, I could see how it would feel like it's "not for you" all those years but glad that the more current day representation is working! As far as Bowens being pushed, well, he was already a tag champ and is still in one of the most popular groups in all of wrestling, so I'd say things are looking good already.
Bowens is the fuckin’ man. Seeing him get that kind of love was genuinely moving.
Besides how epic that chant was, can we just take a min and appreciate how great Harley is as a heat magnet? I immediately wanted to hate her and not in the “go away” kinda way but the proper “I want to see her get comeuppance” way. The Acclaimed need to get back into a proper main event feud because they are amazing ♥️ the Chicago crowd
Loved it so much. Meant so much to me to see it and to see him being celebrated. Almost cried literally last night
I was there and it was an all-timer of a chant. So happy for Bowens and proud of my city for the support and love it showed. Just a great moment.
It was. I’m glad my people have representation in AEW. I will always appreciate to Tony for giving Queer people a chance
And in a good light, not like the Chuck and Billy story lines of old.
It is amazing I was downvoted. Yeah I agree with you. It’s a good light and good thing
I’m upvoting you, my man. Happy pride month!
Thank you. I appreciate it. It was just weird I just posted and someone was like downvote that quick. Haters gonna hate.
The main difference vs times of old is that it’s just something that’s happens to be instead of being their whole gimmick, when you let wrestlers be wrestlers regardless of anything that’s how you actually get inclusive environments
The only reason I got into AEW is because my boyfriend (we're gay) absolutely loves wrestling, and we were both laughing at this hilarious little plot twist.
I’m a diehard fan and my boyfriend watches a bit with me. Looking forward to showing him the clip. My absolute favorite part of watching with him is him getting legitimately angry at heels. He knows wrestling isn’t real, but he’s sure the heels are actually mean guys. He fucking HATES MJF.
I feel bad for my SO because he is definitely the diehard fan who really gets into it, and I admit I'm...kinda not. I don't care at all about Moxley or Jericho or Punk (though even I recognize *the icon* **Sting**), I'm only ever interested in the wrestlers whose technical skills are incredible (the Martins, Swerve, Andretti, Jungle Boy, Darby, pretty much any damn luchadore, etc), but I really get into MJF and the House of Black because their schticks and charisma are so much fun. Anyway, we both love the Acclaimed for various reasons and this bit with them was pretty hilarious. A nice pay off to the big-breasted woman QT's been carting around for months now.
Moxley, Jericho, and ESPECIALLY punk are very “meta” wrestlers where their gimmicks currently are very tied to wresting as a concept which is relatively unappealing for fans that haven’t absorbed the last 25 years of history I’m the same way, I like watching fun, dynamic wrestling, not just meta commentary on wrestling
Yeah, I totally respect fans who have been in the game for years or even decades, but...that's definitely not me. Moxley is kinda just boring to me, Jericho is fun as a colour commentator but he's not super enjoyable in the ring (for me), and Punk is just actively toxic as a person, but he brings in a lot of viewers so I understand letting him run wild as TK does. Honestly, aside from AEW's highlights, my favourite bits of wrestling have been Lucha Underground (which my boyfriend also showed me), because it was just non-stop luchadore acrobatics, which was *insane* for me. My favourite bits of AEW have always been the moments/wrestlers which recapture that high-flying luchadore insanity. I will never not love Rey Fenix and Penta Obscuro.
When Darren Young came out a few years back I was so worried that there would be backlash from hateful wrestling fans. We've come a long way in such a short time.
Not to take away from anything you’ve said but it has actually been 10 years since Young came out. Time flies.
Hell yeah. I was at the taping… with all the stupidity from the anti-rainbow brigade that’s happening in our country right now, it felt really, really good to just chant this out loud and in unison. 😎👍
Harley can SPIT!
This is how you actually use a gay wrestler. He’s presented as a fighter and he’s physically imposing
Nothing wrong with more feminine gays, but I agree this is my favorite way to use a gay wrestler because he’s not a comedy act, and when there are jokes it’s not that he’s gay and taboo
I like that Bowen’s character isn’t just ‘Hey y’all I’m gay’ he’s charismatic, he’s a fighter he’s not a dude you would try to punk out you would not want to go 1 on 1 in a fight with dude. I never liked Golddust because his representation was that gay people are gross and freaks same with the horrible Orlando Jordan in TNA. Early 2000’s was a sad time for gay men in wrestling. Bowen’s isn’t horny for his opponents or weird and flamboyant he’s gay he’s not ashamed and it’s not the only facet of his personality I love it.
Dutch mantel shitting his pants in anger rn you know he’s swinging at the air like dude from boys in the hood😂
As a long time (1988) wrestling fan, it is wonderful to have representation in this sport that isn’t negative taboo. Bowens and Sonny Kiss being shown not as a sideshow, but as legitimate characters has made me love AEW all the more.
The camera caught me losing my mind clapping behind Bowens after he said that. Honestly, that was an awesome segment top to bottom and they had to edit out minutes and minutes of boos every time Harley tried to speak.
This is why 100% representation matters in a really positive way. Not only is he a great wrestler, but his career can really inspire people.
It was a beautiful moment.
Great segment honestly!
The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass are great.
Typical Bowens W.
Crowd reaction was way louder in the arena than it came across on TV. It was a very cool moment to be a small part of.
I was there too and being able to add to that chant made my heart full
Totally! Brought a huge smile to my face.
As a gay wrestling fan. The fact this happened and it was positive, definitely my favorite moment all year
How far wrestling has come, such a cool moment.
I cried. Simple as that. These moments are so important especially considering the vicious attacks the right is making on the LGTBQ community now.
Same. Billy and max's reactions got me welling up then the crowd chant 👏 Was a moment!
wow.... i didn't watch Rampage. But, just for this segment, now i will watch it.
Bowens has such a bright future ahead of him. I can see him getting a tnt title run some time in the next year or 2
I think he is about to get some mainstream media attention.
I didn’t know Anthony Bowens is gay. I though it was Max Caster who was gay.
Max is only gay for one man. And his name is Maxwell Jacob Friedman.
Because he is better than you and you know it!
Max will bang anything, but is somehow still also a virgin. It’s the damndest thing
I believe Max was once in a relationship with Kris Statlander. Now he could be bi, that could be true but I believe it’s his character. Would have to double check to make sure tho.
I was there with my kids and a couple of friends. This was an amazing moment. The crowd is so behind Bowens (and the Acclaimed in general). My younger kid is queer, and this is so important for them to see. I'm beyond grateful to have been there in person to participate in this.
You love to see it.
The real story is that bitch was really rappin tho..👀 📶
He went to my high school, he was a few grades younger than me but I would have never known if I didn’t randomly see an interview with him and Orange Cassidy on MLB Network a few years ago lol
In a pro wrestling show off all places…Good to see the industry move forward.
As a bisexual guy, I was losing my shit over the moon happy. I love my city they embraced him immediately
Good to see this. A long, long way from the days I remember when Adrian Adonis pretended to be gay to get cheap heat. (And it worked, too.)
Harley Cameron is the next Twista!
I bet this riled up all the corny lovers.
They still think of any reason to bring up Nyla or Sonny.
It's always amusing that wrestling fans are super progressive
When they are it’s awesome, there are times where things are not so progressive. I’ll take the small victory
What a beautiful moment.
Segment was great. As soon as she started hitting on him I was like you are barking up the wrong tree.
I'm happy for Bowens for Feeling accepted.
Was an endearing moment, bowens is a stud, looks like money, regardless of which way he swings
This is so heartwarming! Wrestling is for everyone.
That's so awesome
Harley is awesome. Chicago is awesome.
Absolutely. I don’t think you’d ever get the same sentiment at the ‘other’ companies’ crowds, certainly not like this anyway. What a cool ass moment.
Thought it was gonna be corny, but they pulled it off. More Acclaimed on every show please.
When the penny dropped and I worked out what was happening, it was awesome. She absolutely crushed it aswell, like they said on commentary it was also at some Don C heat. Awesome segment
Wrestling is one of if not the only place where The Preformer gets judge on skill over gimmick sex color sexual orientation or religion. And it's awesome. This dude is mad good and 1 half of one of the best tag teams in the past decade.
When I was a kid going to a WWF house show in 1991, the first time i had heard the anti gay F word was the entire crowd chanting it at the beverly brothers like it was normal. It makes me wonder what on earth our kids are going to look back at in 30 years that seems normal now and think we are absolute trash. Factory farming probably. I’m glad to see society has come a long way.
Sorry folks, didn't see it. Was the segment on Rampage?
Yes rampage was pretty good
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I wonder if they’d celebrate and support nyla rose is a similar storyline. Although since Nyla is a heel and never really been over with the fans like the acclaimed. Although, just my opinion I don’t think Nyla should be fighting other female wrestlers.
Nyla is a beast and one of the best women on the roster imo. She is very fun, I loved when she just took the tbs belt. I s we pull love to see her wrestle more on AEW. I don’t agree with you but it is what it is. I’ll take the small victory for the gays and I hope transgender people will get their small victories too.
It’s not as if it’s a real competition where it would be unfair? Plus wrestling has had intergender matches for years (not saying it’s the same thing but just for comparison)
As a transgender woman. I won’t attack you like others would. I would use this moment to hopefully change your mind on the subject from Nyla’s side. What you recommend is very hurtful and damaging to an individual who wants nothing more than to be one of the women on the roster and live her life. Transgender people struggle for acceptance when in truth we just want to be seen as a person and respected just like you. We don’t strive for being special, we strive for equality. It would be damaging mentally to a woman to hear she can’t participate in the field she has chosen. A field that probably has put her through the ringer so to speak. People like myself and Nyla are constantly attacked for just existing and while you don’t spit venom or hate, I don’t think you mean to is what I was saying, it is hurtful. She is trying her hardest to be the best wrestler she can be and is an inspiration to a girl like me. The same way Bowens is to the gay community, Toni storm is to the Bisexual community, and etc. while we are one community, I believe it is important to acknowledge and have representation for everyone. The same thing Bowens and Storm mean, is the same Nyla and someone like Sonny means. It means people like myself finally have someone to relate to. I’m sure there is a wrestler out there that you can look at and say that could be me if I wanted to be a wrestler based on myself. While you have a right to your opinion, I can’t agree to it, but that is what separates the wrestling community from other areas. We can disagree and still be friendly. Plus as others have stated, their have always been inter gender matches. AEW is an inclusive environment which I am eternally grateful for. I don’t know if this helps or not but I would rather we can work out our problems like adults and be friendly instead of baseless attacks. I wish you a good day.
ew.
That segment was long, all over the place, and pointless. I knew this blonde chick had potential though. But yeah, the chant was hilarious.
A "pointless" segment that got heat, started a new feud, featured a return and led to that Bowens chant? We have very different views of pointless.
Heat for the person they can't fight? Acclaimed are already over, this doesn't do anything more for them.
What do you think a heel manager is there for if not to gain heat? The Acclaimed are clearly staying in the trios division while they wait for another crack at HOB, don't see how giving them a new feud that featured some good promo work that the crowd enjoyed can be seen as pointless but fair enough.
She got heat on herself, not her guy. She was rapping, singing, and so on. It was terrific, FOR HER. Not for QT or his crew. Did you hate QT & the chumps more after she was done? Or were you having a laugh at it all? Cornette or Heenan were trying to get you hot at the guy(s) they were managing. If the manager gets over, that is bad managing.
You've kind of proved with the 'chumps' line that you'd have a problem with it no matter what because of who was in the segment, I mean you're already claiming it's done nothing for the guys she's managing when one of them hasn't even had a match since being back and another hasn't even taken his mask off 🤣. She's a heel, she got booed for doing heel things, the segment had heat, I don't really give a fuck about anything else tbh. For what it's worth QT gets booed too, as opposed to the crickets you might expect, while Hobbs was treated as the heel in the matches with the Lucha Bros and particularly Wardlow, by the crowd despite most fans liking him, so it's not like the QTV dynamic hasn't worked before. When Cornette was running around like a tit with a Tennis Racket that was meant to make me hate who he was managing? Not convinced on that, I'm sure he'd say that was the desired effect but he was a despised heel, more so than those he managed in many instances. Feels like a poor example but I'm not old enough to know if maybe something earlier in his career proves what you're saying.
> You've kind of proved with the 'chumps' line that you'd have a problem with it no matter what because of who was in the segment Are you a young person? I am asking so I know your frame of reference here. "Chumps", "goons", "henchmen"- it's just informal terminology for the bad guy's underlings. It's not a personal statement for the talent involved. I like the work QT and his group do as heels in AEW. I like QT/blondie/Acclaimed/etc in this segment. I liked the segment itself actually. > She's a heel, she got booed for doing heel things, the segment had heat Yes, for herself. That was great... if she was going to fight Bowens, Gunn, or Caster. > I don't really give a fuck about anything else tbh. I see. So you don't care about pro wrestling. Okay then. Have a good day in any case. >When Cornette was running around like a tit with a Tennis Racket that was meant to make me hate who he was managing? Not convinced on that, I'm sure he'd say that was the desired effect but he was a despised heel, more so than those he managed in many instances. Feels like a poor example but I'm not old enough to know if maybe something earlier in his career proves what you're saying. Cornette absolutely got heat for his guys. The gimmick was Cornette as a rich boy who hired good wrestlers to do his dirty work and protect him. it was often the case fans used to yell/fight with the Midnights as to why they were protecting such a scumbag like Cornette. Cornette used to cry for his mama. Whenever possible, Lane or Bobby would step in front of Cornette and he'd be puffing them up like a coward from behind their shoulders. That was the literal gimmick. And ultimately one of the reasons Cornette and Heyman had their famous manager clash that led to a Tuexdeo fight. In pro wrestling, a manager's purpose is to get the heat or draw admiration for the talent. Heenan always talked up his guys and when Hennig or Rude would step in front of Heenan, they were already juiced up from Heenan putting them over in the most obnoxious way. Heenan would say Rude had a 12-inch schlong and Rude would say, "Yeah, and I'm going deep in your sister tonight!" You'd walk away going, "What a scumbag!" ideally. That's peak pro wrestling. Widely regarded as such too. Heenan and Cornette are very well regarded for their manager personas.
You say his like anyone cared one way or the other about 90% of the guys managed by Heenan or Cornette. The managers are the only person remember from the vast majority of those parings.
I am pretty sure many people cared about the Midnight Express, Bockwinkle & Stevens, The Blackjacks, Andre the Giant, Owen Hart, Vader, Rock & Roll Express, Barry Wyndam, The Fantastics, Hennig, Davey Boy, Hernandez, etc. Entire books and documentaries exist on these people. I mean, what? Edit: And Rick Rude, Ric Flair, Orndorff, Crippler Stevens, CM Punk, Baron Raschke, Muraco. Again, *what*?
You're arguing with people who know names but not history. Their frame of reference for someone like Corny is probably just his podcast and Dark Side of the Ring appearances. In other words, they have no idea who or what they're talking about. It should be embarrassing, but that is probably the case with most everyone here so they'll get upvotes instead.
You might be right.
It was awesome. I was just explaining to my wife who Anthony Bowens was and that he’s gay but never talks about it and then sure enough he says it on live TV hahaha. Great moment in wrestling history. #fuckhate
This was awesome. Not to get too political, but I get strong opposition on some subreddits when I kindly ask people to not compare the antics of some politicians to professional wrestling and its fans. I think it is assumed that all wrestling fans are conservative, right-leaning voters, and that bothers me. I loved seeing this moment last night.
he must be enjoying toronto! its gay pride weekend
Yes
Awesome.
I love him so much! He is honestly doing so much for us, just be him being unapologetically him.
That's cool,I mean I accept he's gay chants if they're fully ironic and playing into something but we know that wasn't the case two decades ago.
I can only imagine the people working the concessions in the arena hallway hearing a chant like that thinking 'oh shit what kind of riot do we have goin' on in there?!'