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ANTHONY BOWENS READY TO MAKE STATEMENT AT TOMORROW'S AEW DOUBLE OR NOTHING

For Anthony Bowens, AEW Double or Nothing 2026 represents far more than just another pay-per-view match. It’s a chance to perform on one of the biggest stages of his career in front of a hometown-adjacent crowd, continue reinventing himself as a member of the Opps after the end of The Acclaimed’s run at the top, and prove exactly why he believes he should be viewed as one of the faces of AEW moving forward.

Tomorrow, AEW heads to New York City for the first-ever Double or Nothing event in the market, running the sold-out Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing, Queens before more than 14,000 fans. Bowens, now aligned with Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata, will team with Hook and Shibata against Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, and Wheeler Yuta of the Death Riders on the Buy-In portion of the show.

Speaking with PWInsiderElite.com ahead of the event, Bowens was clearly energized not only about the match itself, but about what the event represents for AEW in New York.

“It’s good to be back,” Bowens said. “See my parents, and I’m excited to be at, what, 48 hours away, like you said, from Double or Nothing, a sold-out Louis Armstrong Stadium, New York City. What could be better?”

The event marks yet another milestone for AEW in the market after previously running Arthur Ashe Stadium, and Bowens believes the company’s New York success proves AEW is capable of eventually running virtually any venue in the city, including Madison Square Garden.

“That’s one of my career goals,” Bowens admitted. “I’m pretty sure I heard MJF say the same thing. That’s one of the career goals, is to wrestle there. So hopefully one day we can make that happen.”

Bowens scoffed at the online skepticism he still occasionally sees surrounding AEW’s ability to draw major crowds.

“People are delusional if they think we wouldn’t sell [MSG] out,” Bowens said. “We got 14,000 over in Queens. They said the same thing about Wembley, that we wouldn’t put 80,000 in there, and we sold the place. We would do it.”

That confidence has become a defining part of Bowens’ current presentation on AEW television. Since aligning with Samoa Joe and The Ops, Bowens has embraced a more aggressive edge, leaning into frustrations he says had been building for quite some time.

“I love it,” Bowens said of the new faction. “I love that I’m back in the thick of things.”

Bowens acknowledged the last year of his AEW career featured unexpected twists and creative uncertainty after The Acclaimed gradually cooled from one of the hottest acts in the company.

“A lot of life and pro wrestling, you have to adapt to things,” Bowens explained. “You plan for one thing, it goes a different way, and then sometimes it goes a different way again, and then you just have to keep adapting.”

According to Bowens, joining forces with Samoa Joe has allowed him to redirect frustrations that had quietly built beneath the surface.

“I have finally found a group of people that understand and appreciate all that I do for the company and for the industry,” Bowens said. “They recognize that I am the pride of pro wrestling.”

Bowens then launched into a passionate explanation of why he believes he deserves greater recognition within AEW.

“I have a lot of anger within me in the fact that despite all I do for the fans and for the company and for the industry, all the love and adulation kind of goes to these other folks that I feel aren’t people that should be faces of the company,” Bowens said.

“You got a guy like Hangman Adam Page who’s burning down coworkers’ childhood homes. That’s crazy to me. He should be in jail. He shouldn’t have a face on the truck. That should be me.

“You have guys like Mark Briscoe who have no teeth. You can’t put his face on the side of the truck. You can’t put his face on magazines. That should be someone like me, someone who’s on the red carpet, somebody who’s used to being in front of cameras.”

Bowens said Samoa Joe has already helped him focus that intensity into something productive.

“I think Joe is the person to harness that and point it in the right direction so I can ascend up the roster where I need to be and also get my point across that I am one of the faces of this company and that I am somebody that should be applauded every time I walk out there.”

Then, with a grin, Bowens added:

“A standing ovation, I should say.”

While Bowens’ confidence is obvious, he was also candid about the challenges that come with staying relevant in a crowded wrestling landscape, especially after a successful act starts cooling off.

“You gotta find the balance of being annoying and also persistent,” Bowens said. “I’m not somebody that just likes to accept the bare minimum. Especially in a very cutthroat world like pro wrestling, if you accept the bare minimum and just go, ‘Whatever, I’m happy,’ you’ll just be forgotten about, and I’m not a person that likes to be forgotten about.”

Bowens stressed that he constantly pitches ideas and pushes to remain creatively active.

“I should be featured every single week,” he said. “So I’m gonna make sure that I’m constantly making my voice heard and pitching ideas, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

That mentality eventually led to the emotionally charged promo Bowens delivered recently on Collision, where he openly vented frustrations and showcased a more serious side of his personality.

“I grabbed cameras and cut that promo a few weeks ago that ended up being like five minutes of me venting,” Bowens said. “Just so people could see a different side of me and hear my frustrations and hear where I’m coming from. I still have a lot more to say.”

Working alongside Samoa Joe has also given Bowens a new perspective on wrestling itself.

“I loved my time with Billy [Gunn],” Bowens said, “and now I love the fact that I’m getting a different perspective on wrestling.  I think that’s what makes a really good pro wrestler, is that you get different pieces of advice and different pieces of experience from individuals that have been very successful in the business over the years.”

Bowens compared it to how previous generations of wrestlers developed by traveling internationally and learning different styles.

“You wrestle a little bit in Mexico, then you go wrestle a little bit in Japan, and you go wrestle in England,” Bowens explained. “You take little bits and pieces of stuff that you learned along the way and it molds you into the performer that you are present day.”

This Sunday, Bowens plans to bring that evolution directly into battle against the Death Riders.

“I said in the ring the other weekend on Collision, I’m choosing violence,” Bowens declared.

Bowens also revealed he plans to debut a new submission hold at the pay-per-view, one inspired by longtime independent wrestler Mario Bokara.

“I’m very excited to be using a new submission,” Bowens said. “I haven’t named it yet. It’s an ode to a man that you’re very familiar with too from our WrestlePro days, Mario Bokara.  That was a move that was passed down from Santino Marella to him, and I am using that now as a tribute to Mario because Mario’s a guy who played a big role in my development,” Bowens explained. “I would love to get in a position to do that and rip some Death Riders’ arms off this Sunday and again take home a W in front of 14,000 people.”

Bowens credited Bokara, along with Pat Buck and Dan Maff, as major influences on his development.

Despite being part of an event loaded with major matches and huge names, Bowens insisted he isn’t worried about competing for attention on the card.

“I worry about taking care of my own business and making sure that I’m doing the best that I can,” Bowens said. “Because if I do that, then that makes the show better in general.”

Still, his competitive nature remains very much intact.

“I’m always gonna wanna prove why I’m the pride of pro wrestling, why I’m better than Okada, why I’m better than Takeshita, why I’m better than Ospreay,” Bowens said.

“There’s different ways of proving that once you get the opportunity.”

Bowens also reflected on how different his life could have been had he signed with WWE years ago instead of ultimately joining AEW.

“In the beginning it was, ‘Oh, I wonder what would’ve happened,’” Bowens admitted. “Now it’s not even really a thought.  I feel like I fell where I need to be.  I became Tag Team Champion, Trios Champion, one of the most popular tag teams in the history of professional wrestling.”

Bowens added that AEW has allowed him the freedom to pursue passions outside wrestling while also fully being himself publicly.

“And then there’s the comfort of being able to be myself here,” Bowens said. “I don’t know if that would exist on the other side of things.”

Now, with Double or Nothing set to make history in Queens, Bowens sees Sunday night as another opportunity to elevate himself further.

“I still have the goals of the TNT title, World Champion, everything that I can get my hands on,” Bowens said. “I’m so focused on making myself the best that I can be here and not only the pride of pro wrestling — I’m the pride of AEW.”

And if fans need one final sales pitch before ordering the pay-per-view?

“AEW does pay-per-views like no other wrestling company in the world or ever,” Bowens said. “It is jam-packed from the time it starts to the time it finishes. It is the best professional wrestling, the most elite professional wrestling that you can get.”

Then Bowens offered one final instruction to the New York crowd awaiting him Sunday night.

“Make sure when the pride of pro wrestling comes out there on Sunday,” Bowens said, “you stand up and give me the standing ovation that I deserve.”

AEW Double or Nothing hits PPV, MyAEW.com, Prime Video, HBO Max and more tomorrow evening.

Mike Johnson can be reached at MikeJohnsonPWInsider@gmail.com.

 

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