Spoiler reports from AEW’s Rampage tap in Chicago on Wednesday, June 21 indicated that the segment featuring The Acclaimed and QTV was booed so loudly it probably needed editing so TV viewers could understand what was going on.
Whatever they did, it worked pretty well. When it aired on TNT last night (June 23), it was clear the audience at the Wintrust Arena didn’t want to hear QTV’s Harley Cameron, and they really didn’t want to hear her rap. We can debate whether it’s “good heat,” or “go away,” or even “misogynist heat,” but the scene provides the key takeaways.
Max Caster, Anthony Bowens and Billy Gunn feud with the crew of QT Marshall, and that crew now includes WWE/Impact/MLW/AAA/Lucha Underground’s John Morrison. No matter how long he’s been with AEW this time, he calls himself Johnny TV.
A not so crucial, but definitely cool takeaway from this segment? A gag about Cameron attacking Bowens, which led to a gleeful, supportive “He’s gay” chant from AEW fans.
We wrestling fans aren’t all bad.
Aside from the audience, for a moment like this, people like Bowens also deserve huge credit for their presence in the room, their advocacy for LGBTQ people and causes, and their reluctance to have their sexuality or identity misused for laughs or the like Queer Panic Angles Wrestling was well known in the past. We should also pay our attention to allies like CM Punk, Kenny Omega and numerous others who are collaborating in almost every promotion. We’ll even commend many of these promotions, including AEW, WWE, and Impact, who appear to have executed on their marketing plans for Pride month, despite what happened to companies like Target this month.
As pleasant as it is, it’s not the focus of the segment. So… what do we think of Johnny TV?
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