Welcome to the Opps Era

Pull up a stool, grab a cold draft, and let us talk about the absolute circus currently running out of the AEW booking office. While the rest of the sports world is obsessing over the UCL Final in five days or counting down the nineteen days until the FIFA World Cup kick-off, the wrestling internet is melting down over tomorrow's AEW Double or Nothing card at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Queens. And no, I am not talking about the massive main-card war between Samoa Joe and Will Ospreay. I am talking about the absolute, glorious chaos happening on the Buy In pre-show.

Anthony Bowens, HOOK, and Katsuyori Shibata are teaming up under the banner of The Opps to fight the Death Riders trio of Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, and Daniel Garcia. If you told me two years ago that the guy screaming about scissoring would join a heel stable led by Samoa Joe, I would have laughed in your face. But here we are on May 23, 2026, and the internet is locked in a civil war over whether this turn is genius or a disaster.

Ever since The Acclaimed imploded in January 2025, Bowens has been searching for a new direction. He spent weeks begging Samoa Joe for a spot in The Opps, finally getting his official invitation on the April 25, 2026, episode of Collision. But as PWInsider reported, this transition has been a massive grind. Bowens admits he is undergoing a serious mental reset to wash away six years of crowd-pandering catchphrases.

The Social Media Jury in Session

The Scissor-Happy Skeptics

Search the forums and you will see the nostalgia crowd crying into their keyboards. A vocal portion of the fanbase refuses to let go of the past. To them, Bowens is a natural babyface whose appeal is tied to high-energy, fun-loving interactions. They see this new serious character as a forced fit that strips away his charisma.

On r/SquaredCircle, users are already posting their complaints. One user, u/AcclaimedFan99, wrote: 'Watching Bowens walk out with a scowl instead of doing the rap is depressing. He spent six years building the most over babyface act in the company, and now we are supposed to boo him because he joined Samoa Joe's crew? It feels incredibly forced.'

Another fan on X agreed: 'Bowens heel turn is a massive mistake. He is trying too hard to look mean, but his first instinct is still to scissor. You can literally see him holding back his natural charisma. This whole Opps stable has ruined Hook and Shibata too. Let them go back to being cool singles guys.'

The Samoa Joe Disciples

On the flip side, the enthusiasts are absolutely eating this up. They argue Bowens had reached his ceiling as a comedy babyface and needed to reinvent himself. Aligning with Samoa Joe is the ultimate graduate school for a future singles champion.

The forums are buzzing with defense posts. One popular thread on a major wrestling forum summed it up: 'The Acclaimed was dead after the split, and Bowens needed this heel run to show a dark side. Learning from Joe and Shibata backstage is the best thing for him. Their segment on Collision destroying The Lethal Twist showed exactly how brutal this group can be.'

Another user, u/SmarkyMark, added: 'People are so impatient. Bowens literally said in his interview that he needs about six months to deprogram his mind after six years of tag team habits. Having him team with Shibata and Hook is pure gold. Plus, Shibata holding the backstage camera while Joe and Hook beat people up is the funniest running gag right now.'

The Booking Truthers

Then we have the contrarians who do not care about the character turn itself, but are furious about where this match is positioned. They cannot understand why a major stable war is buried on the Buy In pre-show instead of getting a prime spot on the main card. They see it as a waste of star power.

One commenter on a wrestling news blog wrote: 'How is a match featuring Claudio Castagnoli, Daniel Garcia, Wheeler Yuta, Hook, Shibata, and Bowens on the pre-show? This is a pay-per-view quality match built up on TV for weeks. Instead, we get it for free on YouTube while the main card has filler matches. AEW is giving away their best television storylines on the pre-show.'

Another fan agreed: 'The build has been great. Bowens trying to interfere in the Shibata vs Ospreay match on Dynamite and getting cut off by the Death Riders was a perfect way to set this up. But putting the payoff on the Buy In pre-show tells the audience that this stable war does not actually matter.'

My Verdict on The Buy In Showdown

Let us cut through the noise and get to the truth. Both sides have valid points, but the critics are missing the forest for the trees. Yes, the transition has been a bit clunky. Seeing Bowens walk to the ring without doing a single signature gesture is jarring. His in-ring mannerisms still occasionally betray his babyface instincts, and it shows when he hesitates before executing a basic heel stall.

But let us be honest: the babyface character had hit a brick wall. If Bowens stayed in that lane, he was looking at a career of opening matches and comedy skits. By joining The Opps, he gets to stand next to Samoa Joe, one of the most credible heels ever, and Katsuyori Shibata, a literal assassin who can teach him to make every strike look like a felony. That is a trade you make 10 out of 10 times if you want to be a serious player.

The booking of the match on the Buy In pre-show is indeed a minor stumble, but it serves a strategic purpose. AEW wants to draw in casual viewers, and putting a high-workrate, high-drama match like this on the pre-show is a classic hook. Claudio Castagnoli and Katsuyori Shibata trading stiff European uppercuts is going to be absolute physical art. Wheeler Yuta trying to lock Hook in a seatbelt pin while Hook counters into a Judo throw will keep the purists happy, while Daniel Garcia's signature dance and Bowens' rolling elbow into a powerbomb add entertainment value.

The real test for Bowens will be whether he can maintain this serious edge when the Queens crowd inevitably starts chanting his old catchphrases. He needs to lean heavily into the heel heat, shut down the crowd's attempts to scissor, and prove he can carry a serious singles storyline. Tomorrow night, we get our first real glimpse of whether this gamble will pay off or if the deprogramming was a bridge too far.