AEW star Anthony Bowens was told he was too “bland” for WWE NXT when being rejected by the promotion in 2015.
Bowens, one-half of The Acclaimed in AEW, signed with Tony Khan’s promotion in November 2020 and unsuccessfully challenged for the World Tag Team Championships at All Out.
Speaking to ‘The Sports Courier,’ Bowens recalled what WWE said when they turned him down in 2015 after a tryout.
“I didn’t have a character, I was bland, I was just a blue chip athlete. I was still in the closet so I had these walls up around me subconsciously. I wasn’t able to be myself, so I get it but it lit a fire under me.”
“So I went out, I started taking acting classes, sketch comedy classes, I ended up landing and agent in New York, so I’ve done like eight national commercials since then: Lunchables, Domino’s Pizza, Optimum Online, a bunch of those things.”
Bowens would make an appearance for WWE, appearing on the December 21, 2016 episode of NXT, but suffered a concussion during a match involving AOP.
The Acclaimed will challenge for the AEW World Tag Team Championships on this week’s ‘Grand Slam’ Dynamite.
