At the All Elite Wrestling Rampage event last week, out wrestler Anthony Bowens found some unlikely support.
While much of professional wrestling is scripted, an authentic response from fans during Bowensā segment has gone viral online for its positivity, and what it signals for acceptance in the sport.
During banter with QTV reporter Harley Cameron, the anchor suggested that Bowens was attracted to her, putting on a seductive show that didnāt seem to phase the wrestler. Bowens only responded that Cameron must have been ākicked in the head too many times by a kangarooā when she was growing up.
When Cameron expressed confusion, Bowens clarified what many already knew: that he is gay, and happily taken. This led the audience to begin chanting āHeās gay!ā at Cameron.
The 32-year-old wrestler came out as bisexual in January 2017, but later said that he identifies as gay. After being passed over by the WWE in 2015, Bowens went on to sign a five-year contract with AEW in 2020, eventually becoming the first out gay champion in the organizationās history. Bowens has been with his partner, Michael Pavano, since before he publicly came out.
Professional wrestling organizations have long received criticism for using racist and homophobic tropes in their characters and sketches, which have not always been welcoming to their marginalized viewers and performers. Well aware of this, Bowens has since said that he was pleasantly surprised by the audienceās reaction last week.
Bowens posted the clip of his segment to Instagram, noting how āproudā he was at how far the sport has come.
āIf you told me years ago Iād have an arena chanting HEāS GAY at me in the most POSITIVE of ways, Iād say youāre crazy,ā he wrote. āThereās obviously still progress to be made but Iām proud at how far weāve come. Happy Pride.ā
