Everyone loves The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens and Max Caster), and the duo have reached heights since they paired up with Billy Gunn, or “Daddy Ass”, as Bowens calls him. But beyond having a fun dynamic on-screen, Bowens says that Gunn is an incredible resource, given his status as a legend and his experience in the business.
Gunn helped The Acclaimed beat Swerve in our Glory (Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland) for the AEW World Tag Team Championship on AEW Dynamite: Grand Slam 2022. Gunn, 58, will face Stricklind in a heated singles match on the October 12 episode of AEW Dynamite, as the latter is determined to avenge the loss.
In an interview with The Athletic, Bowens described how working with the veteran has been beneficial for The Acclaimed; he noted that Gunn was a member of the New Age Outlaws, one of the most top tag teams during the Attitude Era. He also stated that it’s fun to see Gunn having fun as part of the act.
“It’s been huge. He was part of one of the best tag teams in professional wrestling back in the day,” Bowens said. “So much knowledge, so smart. To be able to pick his brain and figure out a strategy for how we’re going to attack our opponents. He’s been an absolutely incredible resource, and he’s a legend. You can tell how much fun he’s having, and it’s fun to see.”
Like The Acclaimed have risen to the top of AEW’s tag team division, the popularity of their signature scissoring gesture, along with Bowens’ saying, “Scissor me, Daddy Ass” has skyrocketed. Arenas full of fans chant along and often sing “Scissor me, Daddy” when The Acclaimed are in the ring. When asked whether he thought scissoring would become so popular, Bowens admitted that they had no idea what it would become, but the duo knew it was something special, and they’ve run with it.
“Truthfully, no. We had no idea,” Bowens said. “We were originally asked to not do it at a point, but for whatever reason, we just started doing it again. There was this one time I was on the floor, and I looked up and fans — all of them — had their hands out with the scissor gesture yelling for me to scissor them. So, we knew we had something after that. I think it’s turned into the biggest thing in professional wrestling right now. People can’t get enough of the scissoring. We’ll do meet-and-greets and other stuff, and for hours, every single person will come up and say, ‘Can we scissor you?’ It’s fantastic.”
As noted, Gunn will be in action on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite. Check out the updated card here.
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