Watch: Out Wrestler Anthony Bowens Looks Back on His Dramatic Coming Out Moment

Out wrestler Anthony Bowens body-slammed the door right off the closet two years ago, with a memorable moment in the ring. Bowens looked back at his dramatic coming out in comments he made to Pink News.

The moment came during a flirtation from wrestler Harley Cameron, who seemed to be coming on to the pink-and-white-clad Bowens. Stepping into the ring during a 2023 match, Cameron addressed Bowens and his partner in wrestling duo The Acclaimed, before telling Bowens in a rap that "It's pretty clear that you're into me!"

Bowens scoffed, "Did you just say that you think I'm into you?"

Cameron responded, "Yeah," in a "No duh" tone of voice.

At that point, Bowens asked, "Very, very serious question: Did you get kicked too many times in the head by a kangaroo when you were a kid?" As Cameron responded in a broadly exaggerated way, Bowens went on to explain it to her: "I'm gay!"

Then a moment of surprising validation happened: The packed arena exploded with laughter before the audience underscored Bowens' point with a chant of, "He's gay! He's gay! He's gay!"

That viral moment raced like lightning across the internet, Pink News noted.

"I think that was the first time in history anybody's ever said, 'I'm gay' in a wrestling ring on television," the wrestler told Pink News. "I don't think, in the moment, that dawned on me" – although, he also admitted, he had mused about how he might come out publicly "in a fun way."

"I wanted to be light-hearted and it to be just the right segment," Bowens, who had already been out in his personal life when he made his public proclamation, said.

Indeed, it seems that "the right segment" factored into just when and where Bowens came out. Wrestling Headlines reported at the time that "the segment was largely put together by QT Marshall and Billy Gunn (Daddy Ass)."

Added the outlet: "Marshall reportedly spoke with Bowens about whether he was comfortable proclaiming that he was gay on television, something that Bowens was all for."

Wrestling Headlines further reported "that the segment was originally scheduled for AEW Dynamite, but it was moved to AEW Rampage so it could have the proper time."

Bowens acknowledged the scripted nature of his revelation, telling Pink News that Harley "was playing a very ditsy kind of character, not aware of her social surroundings. Then she would hit on me, fall in love with me, and I would drop the bomb."

But how big a bang did Bowens expect that bombshell to make?

"I wasn't sure what the response would be," the wrestler confessed, saying that he "expected a couple claps" – though, he added, he "didn't think it would be too negative."

Not only was it not negative, it was a defining moment in a sport long regarded as homophobic.

Bowens told Pink News that having "an entire arena standing up, going nuts and chanting 'he's gay' was incredible. It was a fun thing to do."

"Everyone in the building was enjoying it," the grappler went on to say, "and it's a moment people still bring up."

Relive the iconic moment below.