Chad Bowens

Chad Bowens in May of 2017 shortly after the GCW Reopening Press Conference

Tony Bowens (brother)

**Chad Bowens** (Born July 9th, 1986) is an American business executive, retired professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is currently the Head of Marketing for IBW as well as a member of their Hall of Fame. Before this he was the CEO and Head of Talent Relations for GCW. Chad is also a trainer at the John Evergreen Wrestling Academy (The JEWA). Other positions of power Chad has had is General Manager for Friday Night Storm for OBW and as an advisor and trainer to OTW, OBWs developmental program at the time. Chad is a 5x GCW Heavyweight Champion, the first ever IBW Champion, a 1x IBW Tag Team Champion with Task Force 607, a 1x IBW Extreme Mayhem Champion, a 2x OBW Champion, 1x OBW World Heavyweight Champion, 1x OBW Intercontinental Champion, 4x OBW Tag Team Champion, 1x OBW Jackal Champion, and a 1x OBW 24/7 Champion. In addition Chad was a contestant on OBW Survivor in 2012 and hosted it in 2014 and in 2019, this time under the IBW umbrella. Chad has also seen success outside of the ring with the box office hit "Cracked Trade" starring alongside Seth Rogan, Gabriel Iglesias, Kevin Hart, Mila Kunis, Bradley Cooper, and Morgan Freeman. He was previously married to fellow wrestler Jade Mystique in early 2015 before separating later that year and the two officially divorced in early 2016. Chad is currently married to IBW COO Sapphire Montgomery. The two have one daughter, Cindy, who was born on December 23rd, 2015, and an unnamed son.

## Professional wrestling career

### **GCW** **(2007-2011, 2017-Present)**

#### **Early Days (2007-2008)**

The day after Chad Bowens earned his degree in 2007 he signed a contract with GCW whose best known performer at the time was Johnny Evergreen. Evergreen told the owner of the company, Jeremiah Taft that he would  be leaving for OBW when his contract expired the next year which the owner understood. Bowens quickly worked his way up the ranks in GCW becoming one of the most profitable and popular stars in a very short manner. He also formed a friendship with Johnny Evergreen that would prove to last as Evergreen would be the best man at both of Chad Bowens weddings and eventually become the Godfather to Bowens daughter Cindy roughly 8 years after the two met.

Bowens and Evergreen looked like the future of the wrestling world and they finally met in a one on one match for the GCW Heavyweight Championship in Johnny Evergreens last match in the company. The match took place on New Years Eve 2007 and was one of the most bought Pay-Per-Views in GCW history. Most people knew going in that this would be Evergreens last match in GCW for the time being but probably his last match in GCW ever, it was. Bowens won this match but it was no easy task. People say that this is the match that truly put Chad Bowens on the map and people took notice of him. After Evergreen left the company Bowens took his spot as the top guy in the company and held that spot for several years.

When Bowens signed initially in May of 2007 it was a 4 year contract and Bowens remained under that exact contract during his entire tenure with the company. GCW wasn't in the best financial state so Chad knew he had to be a good leader and took less than he was worth in order to keep the ship sailing. After Chad won his third GCW Heavyweight Championship in 2010 it appeared that he wouldn't be resigning with the company after his contract expired as OBW was offering him top dollar and the opportunity to skip their developmental program. During this time GCW was building up a new star, Lafron. The two shared a similar bond that Evergreen and Bowens shared previously. Everybody in the company knew that Lafron was the future of GCW after Chad when he eventually left.

#### **The Guy (2008-2011)**

Starting in 2008 Chad took on a similar role that Evergreen had before him and played his part well, while Evergreen was a squeaky clean babyface, Chad played the role as more of a tweener and was a very polarizing figure, some people loved him for that while some hated him, but business was doing very well. By the time he left GCW officially Bowens held the GCW Heavyweight Championship a record 5 times to go along with 2 tag team championship reigns, Taft knew that Bowens would probably be leaving at the end of his initial 4-year contract so he did what he had done before and tried to build up a new star in young upstart Lafron. The two men had an all-time great GCW feud with Chad barely sneaking out wins, sometimes by DQ, sometimes by outside interference. But by the time Chads contract was up in mid-2011 it was time for a new flag bearer in GCW and Lafron beat Chad Bowens clean in a match that was set up as Lafrons last opportunity at the GCW Heavyweight Championship.

The following day Chad Bowens became a free agent; however, Bowens didn’t sign anywhere immediately, he took a break to watch the wrestling scene evolve. He saw that the ratings in GCW were down even though Lafron was at the top of his game, it’s just that there was no real challenger lined up to face Lafron. Chad saw that and agreed to resign with GCW until the end of the year for a large pay cut to help get GCW out of its rut and the planned work. Lafron threw down an open challenge in early October for his GCW Heavyweight Championship and it was answered by Chad Bowens, news spread fast and the segment was the highest of that year by far. The two had a classic match and Chad regained his championship for a record 5th reign. By the time the year was coming to a close new stars were being built and it was time to once again pass the torch, exactly 4 years to the day that Chad Bowens beat Johnny Evergreen in Evergreens last match in GCW to win the GCW Heavyweight Championship, Lafron beat Chad Bowens in Bowens last match in GCW to win the GCW Heavyweight Championship.Soon after Bowens joined his friend Evergreen in OBW.

 Chad Bowens held the GCW Championship a record 5 times during that span and had also won 2 tag team championships in total during his run from 2007-2011 Chad can never forget about his GCW days as many talents that he helped train made the jump to OBW such as Otis Wright, Darnell Jackson, Alex Icon, Lance Payne, and Lafron.

#### **CEO and Head of Talent Relations** **(2017-2018)**

In early 2017 Chad Bowens made his way out to Jeremiah Taft’s house to reconcile the duos relationship, being a father and accepting his flaws from the past he sincerely apologized for his past actions and Taft surprisingly accepted his apology, Bowens then offered to pay for all of his hospital bills which surprised Taft but he gladly accepted. The two stayed in contact for several months and then Chad had an idea. To buy the Global Championship Wrestling name from Taft, this so Chad could fulfill his dream of running a wrestling company while allowing Taft to retire peacefully without having any money problems. The duo worked out the numbers and Chad found the price to do all of this was a bit high, especially as a new father. Chad contacted two former GCW Heavyweight Champion who happened to be amongst his best friends in the world, John Evergreen and Lafron. The two liked the idea and agreed to split the cost of the company three ways and agreed to purchase the company. The transaction was completed on April 29th, 2017. The deal stated that Jeremiah Taft would stay on board as the Chairman of the Board, Chad Bowens would take over as CEO and Head of Talent Relations, while Evergreen and Lafron would have other roles in the company. The trio quickly signed a decent sized roster and retained some classic names that any fans of GCW would be able to name like ring announcer Jerry Gerard, referee Chuck Alfred, and play-by-play man Ryan Derekson. The transaction was announced to the public on May 5th, 2017 during a press conference at John Evergreens wrestling school the John Evergreen Wrestling Academy (JEWA). After the very successful Pay-Per-View "Coda" the trio decided that due to some top names leaving they would shut down the promotion to once again on the JEWA as well as outside interests. They sold the name and company as a whole back to Jeremiah Taft for a discounted rate.

### **OBW** **(2012-2014)**

#### **Debut**

Chad Bowens signed his OBW Contract on January 10th, 2012. Many executives in OBW felt that Bowens should go to developmental first to improve on his in ring skills but then Storm General Manager Jackal decided to go with his gut and bring Bowens straight to the main roster. Chad Bowens made his OBW debut on January 13, 2012 defeating Big Bubba Blue on Storm 28.

Bowens soon joined the stable Genesis led by Manny Fresh along with Roshandala Babcock. The trio began a rivalry with Jackal and Chad was already a big success and actually punched Jackal in the face in just his third show. Starting on Storm 32 Chad began to show a meaner side to his on screen and off screen girlfriend Feisty.

The next episode was the biggest in the career of Chad Bowens as he tasted his first championship in OBW winning the tag team championship with Roshandala Babcock defeating Arrow and San Cira. Babcock was soon released of his contract and Bowens held the tag team championships on his own.

#### **G2**

Even though Chad Bowens was showing heelish antics he was still a face, that was until Big Shot 2012 where he turned on Manny Fresh and aligned with Rapp3r and Jackal forming G2, Bowens and Rapp3r were crowned tag team champions that night. G2 ran through the competition on Storm early with the abilities of Chad Bowens and Rapp3r and the power of Jackal. The trio became main event stars over night and Chad was once again being recognized. Chad Bowens faced off against Manny Fresh at Heart of Wrestling in 2012 in a losing effort but many people feel that the two of them stole the show. G2 was short lived however as Jackal left the position of General Manager and Rapp3r was traded back to Execution. However the time spent in G2 was time well spent as it launched a whole new career for Chad Bowens.

#### **"The Heel of OBW"**

After that years Heart of Wrestling many people didn't know what the future would hold for Chad Bowens, all of his allies had left the company except for Rapp3r who went back to Execution and his biggest rival Manny Fresh was drafted to Execution. Bowens spent this time showing OBW who the real Chad Bowens was and began a serious winning streak that hit its peak when he won the OBW Intercontinental Championship at Rebirth 2012 on April 30th, 2012. Chad Bowens would soon find himself a new girlfriend in Snickers during this time being with Storm 44. This relationship didn't last to long but during it the duo held both the OBW Intercontinental and the OBW Vixens Championships at the same time. At the draft special that year Bowens was drafted to Execution but he refused to leave Storm. The General Manager Sidster refused to grant his wish but after Bowens never showed up to Execution he gave in. Chad Bowens returned to Storm for the 54th episode where he was defeated by James Parker in a match for the OBW Championship, however Chad Bowens would finally win the OBW Championship the next week by defeating Super Krmi. This was short lived however as Ice cashed in his contract and defeated Bowens for the championship that night.

#### **Departure**

After this match Chad became angry at the booking of OBW and was physically worn out after not having a true break for 5 years. Chad requested his release and it was granted to him during the fall of 2012.

#### **Return**

During the early parts of 2013 a masked man was helping Punisher win several of his matches against M-Star. Finally at Survival 2013 the man was revealed to be a returning Chad Bowens. Bowens was officially reintroduced as a member of the Prophecy. Chad was truly a henchmen at this time for the Prophecy but they never knew his full intentions. At Execution 79 Chad Bowens won a battle royal that gave him a spot in the main event of Heart of Wrestling 2013 against Punisher and M-Star. Bowens won this match by turning on Punisher at the end of the match turning face. During the course of the month Bowens successfully got in the head of Punisher by taking out friends of the Prophecy and even making out with Punishers wife. Bowens may have lost that match at Heart of Wrestling but he was back where he belonged. Chad Bowens and M-Star would then face each other to see who would be the number 1 contender to the OBW World Heavyweight Championship at Rebirth 2013. Chad Bowens would win that match and later on would make history.

**G3 and Injury**

Chad Bowens once again struck gold in OBW on June 25th, 2013 on Execution 86. On this night Bowens formed a new alliance named G3, paying homage to Genesis and G2, Prior to Bowens match with MVP Lux, Lux was attacked by Mr. Excellent, Ryan Daniels, Angelic Storm, and Darnell Jackson, thanks to these attacks Bowens was able to easily defeat MVP Lux to win his first OBW World Heavyweight Championship. However tragedy struck Chad Bowens when an injury sidelined him and forced him to vacate the OBW World Heavyweight Championship.

#### **Hollywood**

After the injury healed Chad decided against wrestling and instead went to Hollywood to see if he could get work. He did quickly and was a leading man in "Cracked Trade" a movie that critics say was one of the funniest movies of the decade. After the injury fully healed and the movie was release and fully promoted Chad returned to OBW for reasons he says are selfless. Instead of focusing on championships this time around he focused on a new woman in his life, Jade Mystique. During this time the two were on and off and Bowens never really focused on his wrestling career as much as other people would.

#### **General Manager of Storm**

On March 21st, 2014 OBW was in a tough spot. Their funds were running low and had nobody to run the ship. Chairman Jack "The Jackal" Fender turned to two men that he knew that he could trust, Colt Williams and Chad Bowens. Fender tasked them each with running a show, Williams would take Execution while Bowens would take Storm. Bowens had moderate success as the Storm General Manager and when his time came to step down from the position he ended as the 2nd longest tenured General Manager in the history of Storm. Highlights of his tenure as General Manager include booking the main event of Heart of Wrestling, leading Team Storm to victory at When Worlds Collide, overseeing his friend John Evergreen capture the OBW Championship for the first time, leading ROP along with this fiancee Jade Mystique, and defeating an Olympian in a wrestling match. Shortly after Chad left his position of General Manager OBW was shut down permanently.

### **IBW** (2014-2015, 2016, 2019-Present)

#### **First IBW Champion**

Chad Bowens signed his first IBW contract on December 3rd, 2014 at the GCW training facility. Chad was at the GCW facility because he had actually gone back to train at the GCW facility during the time between OBW closing and IBW opening. Chad had not been a wrestler in almost a year so he felt the need to get back into shape at a place that he knew and felt comfortable in. Chad nearly signed a new contract with GCW when his than fiancee Jade Mystique ran in with a contract from IBW, IBW had received word that Chad was making a decision soon and wanted to make sure that they could lock him up. Once Chad saw the money that IBW was offering in comparison to GCW he decided to make a statement and GTFO'd Jeremiah Taft through his desk and officially signed with IBW, effectively ending his relationship with Taft, for the time being. Chad was quickly positioned as the top guy in IBW and was crowned the very first IBW Champion on January 1st, 2015 at the Supremacy Pay-Per-View. Things were great for Bowens during this time as less than a month later on January 23rd, 2015 he married longtime girlfriend/fiancee Jade Mystique to end the 4th episode of Collision. Things quickly turned sour however and the title reign and marriage didn't last very long. After suspicions that Jade was cheating on him and after backstage politics forced him out of his top role in IBW Chad Bowens left the company after Heart of Wrestling that year. Even though the company had just put him in the hall of fame it wasn't enough to keep him around.

#### **Hiatus**

After Heart of Wrestling 2015 Chad Bowens was at the worst stage of his life, he was newly separated and quit his job. That night Alex Icon suggested to him to go to the Heart of Wrestling after party to relax and if he really wanted to quit then he could quit the next day. That night Chad Bowens met Sapphire Montgomery after they both had several drinks they eventually went back to Chad's hotel room where they conceived their daughter Cindy. After that night Chad still decided to quit IBW, it was only while watching the following episode of Collision that Chad discovered who Sapphire truly was, the new General Manager of Collision. He was stunned, regardless he decided that he had to move on with his life. A few days after he officially left IBW he signed on as a trainer at John Evergreens wrestling school, the John Evergreen Wrestling Academy (The JEWA). A few weeks later Chad received a call that turned his whole world upside down. Sapphire was pregnant and he was the father. Chad decided to step up and invite Sapphire to live with him, in a completely separate part of the house. After doing this for months the two fell for each other and eventually became a couple. Sapphire gave birth to daughter Cynthia "Cindy" Bowens on December 23rd, 2015.

#### **Task Force 607**

After being gone from IBW for over a year Chad Bowens finally agreed to come back after John Evergreen picked him an idea of taking over IBW and making all the people who ever doubted them regret their words. Sapphire was able to sign the men to contracts on June 7th, 2016 and from their they dominated IBW. The men were dominate and Chad, known under the code name **Relic** won the IBW Tag Team Championships along with Odyssey from the Lace Twins at Lethal Lotto 2016, just over 2 months after entering the company. The following month Lafron, known as Preacher, was able to capture the IBW Global Championship and the group was in complete control of the company. This dominance did not last as Task Force member Ghost was seriously injured in the fall of 2016 and was nearly pronounced dead on November 1st, 2016 while the rest of the group was fighting at the Last Man Standing Pay-Per-View. After seeing what had happened to their brother the group decided that instead of being a watered down version of themselves they would be with Ghost during his time of need.

#### **Return with Sapphire**

On March 3rd, 2017 at the 82nd edition of Collision Chad Bowens once again returned to IBW and once again he wasn't alone. This time however instead of returning with his brothers he returned with his fiancee and mother of his child, Sapphire. IBW was in a tough time as Michael Stark was ruling unfairly and was killing IBW. Chad Bowens teamed up with Collision General Manager Harry Croft (going under the name Skullbreaker), Nikolai Sinclair, and former G2 partner John Morris at Heart of Wrestling that year against a team assembled by Michael Stark. The men were successful and booted Stark from power. Following this led to a few months of floating in IBW, due to him spending most of his time and energy on GCW. Despite this he was still able to capture the IBW Extreme Mayhem Championship and defeat his long time friend Lafron at Capital Carnage 2017.

**Chad and the Cheesy Bunch**

In the summer of 2017 Chad Bowens was able to show another side of himself this time not taking himself as seriously outside of the ring while arguably being the most serious he has ever been inside of it. While feuding with Apocalypse 2.0 (Danny Hall and The Carnage Sisters) Chad recruited three individuals to stand by his side, (L)Afron, Ayden Starr, and Hamish. Collectively they would be named Chad and the Cheesy Bunch by Chad on the 91st episode of Collision. With the group watching his back Chad was able to capture the IBW Global Championship at MorrisMania 2017. Chad held the championship into the fall of that year before departing from the company due to an increased workload with GCW.

**Retirement**

With Chad being away from IBW for over two years and outside of the wrestling world for over 18 months it was assumed that he had quietly retired but on the 129th episode of Collision Chad Bowens made his unexpected return to announce that at Heart of Wrestling 2020 he would have last match. Several weeks would pass until John Evergreen demanded to be named his opponent in what would end up being Evergreens final match as well. John Evergreen would win this match at Heart of Wrestling which was the first time he was able to defeat Bowens in either OBW or IBW. After the match the two embraced with their fellow Long Island wrestlers from OBW in what Chad calls an "end of an era".

**IBW's Head of Marketing**

Shortly after Heart of Wrestling 2020 it was announced that Chad Bowens had reached an agreement with IBW to return to the company in a backstage role. While it first it was unknown what role he would have it has since been revealed that he currently serves as IBW's Head of Marketing.

## Personal life

Chad Bowens was previously in relationships with Feisty and Snickers at different times during 2012. Bowens then began dating long time friend Jade Mystique in 2014 and the two became engaged shortly after. The two were married on January 23rd, 2015 during an episode of Collision. The marriage didn't last and the two were separated months later with the divorce being official in early 2016. Chad Bowens met Sapphire Montgomery at the Heart of Wrestling 2015 after party. That night the two conceived a daughter. After giving living together a try the two began dating and eventually became engaged after their daughter Cindy was born on December 23rd, 2015. Chad and Sapphire were married in the spring of 2017 and reside in houses in both Long Island, New York and West Palm Beach, Florida. The two have also recently welcomed a son however information about him is scarce.

## In Wrestling

* **Finishing moves**
	+ GTFO (Starts out as a Firemans carry that turns into a Flapjack)
	+ Venom (Regal Stretch)
* **Signature moves**
	+ Avalanche (Marcus Cor Von's Pounce)
	+ Ankle Lock
	+ Everblast (Samoan Drop)

* **Nicknames**
	+ The Heel of OBW
	+ Relic
	+ Chaddy
	+ Bowdog
	+ Big $$$
	+ Chadster
* **Managers**
	+ Jeremiah Taft
	+ The Jackal
	+ Feisty
	+ Snickers
	+ Jade Mystique
	+ Sapphire Montgomery
* **Entrance themes**
	+ Valencia- Stop Searching
	+ Task Force - New Beginning

​

## Championships and accomplishments

* IBW/OBW Hall of Famer
* 5x GCW Heavyweight Champion
* 1x and first ever IBW Champion
* 2x OBW Champion
* 1x OBW World Heavyweight Champion
* 4x OBW Tag Team Champion
* 1x IBW Tag Team Champion with Task Force 607
* 1x OBW Intercontinental Champion
* 1x OBW Jackal Champion
* 1x IBW Extreme Mayhem Champion
* 1x OBW 24/7 Champion
* 2nd Longest Tenured OBW Storm General Manager
* GCW CEO and Head of Talent Relations