Prior to his passing in February 2024, Anthony Gaines was a young wrestler from Western New York who, under thirty, had a decade of experience under his belt.
He primarily performs for Empire State Wrestling, which is based near his home, Smash Wrestling in nearby Ontario, Canada, and Pro Wrestling Rampage, which operates not far away in Pennsylvania.
Gaines counts among his trainers a couple of other standouts from the independent scene, Colin Delaney and Pepper Parks.
He has already made something of a name for himself, even landing on Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s PWI 500 last year. But he achieved likely his greatest notoriety in June of last year.
During a match in ESW against Ace Romero, Gaines was hit by a pounce by his opponent, who is double his weight, with the result being that he was launched over the top rope and fourteen feet from the ring! This was comemorated with a conversation with Anthony a year after it took place.
A video of this unbelievable moment went viral all over social media and is believed to have had millions of views. If even got attention from a number of mainstream media outlets.
It should be noted that Gaines actually won that match in the end, thus retaining ESW Interstate championship.
Last night @TheAceyBaby pounced me into absolute oblivion. 14ft deep up the isle way.
I demanded stiff competition and @ESWWrestling made me eat my words. pic.twitter.com/OByRsARpjw
— ✭ Anthony Gaines ✭ (@Anthony__Gaines) July 2, 2018
Anthony Gaines
In Smash, Gaines is a member of the Kill/Switch faction led by ‘Hacker’ Scotty O’Shea and has mostly participated in tag team matches.
Similarly, in PWR he has primarily been a tag team wrestler, most of the time as part of a team called The Homewreckers which has had multiple tag title reigns in that promotion.
But whether wrestling as a single or in a tag team, in the ring, he displays great athletic skills and a slick aerial attack.
Gaines has recently gained a lot of attention again, but this time for a much more positive reason than being launched into oblivion by a 400-pound man.
On his Twitter and Instagram, Gaines came out as gay. In an open and honest post, he said that he realized ten years ago that he was gay, but did not reveal this, save to a select few confidants, as he was concerned it would not be accepted by the wrestling community or even his own father.
The great thing to hear is that Gaines is comfortable coming out now because he feels the wrestling community has grown and is now more inclusive and is better at embracing the diversity of all sorts.
His coming out is timely, as it coincides with Pride month when members of the LGTBTQ+ community celebrate their identity and cis, hetero community demonstrates the virtue of acceptance.
This demonstration of courage comes at a time when an athlete’s honesty both personally and professionally are embraced.
Growth As A Performer
Gaines has been growing as a performer, and being able to be his authentic self will only help him grow as a person. With his personal and professional lives in a good place, we can expect to hear lots more from him in the future.
Much like his namesake suggests Gaines has made great strides in his young career. Regardless of whether he is gaining traction in Empire State Wrestling in upstate New York or emerging as a young talent to watch in Smash Wrestling.
Gaines will only continue to put in the work to ensure that he goes above and beyond the call of duty in and out of the ring.
He is a young talent that is flourishing under the tutelage of the personale of more than independent promotion. With that experience comes with it a wonderful means to grow as a performer.
While he may acknowledge as being none of a kind, Gaines strides to do more, be more and achieve more making him truly the one kind that will attain a great deal of success in their career.
Fans can find Anthony Gaines on Twitter at @Anthony_Gaines where he can be accessed and followed as he continues to compete along the U.S and Canadian east coast along with Facebook at Anthony Gaines – Pro Wrestling and on YouTube as None of Kind Anthony Gaines.
What does the future hold for Gaines? If the present is any indication, fans can be assured that he will be seen as the face of promotion, much like he had been in ESW.
