In the electrifying world of professional wrestling, narratives are often filled with twists and turns, but few stories match the unexpected rise of The Acclaimed. Join us as we look into the meteoric ascent of this dynamic duo, Max Caster and Anthony Bowens, who have taken the wrestling scene with non other than Billy Gunn, storming with their unique blend of charisma, athleticism, and undeniable talent.
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00:00The Acclaimed is one of the most popular tag teams in All Elite Wrestling right now.
00:13They are former tag team champions and now, with Billy Gunn by their side, they hold the
00:18AEW Trios title.
00:20The Acclaimed's journey to the top was an interesting one because, in just two years,
00:25they reached the mountaintop of their career.
00:28The Acclaimed made their debut in AEW in 2020, and you would be surprised to know that this
00:33tag team was created in AEW itself.
00:36Prior to this, the members of the Acclaimed, Max Caster and Anthony Bowens, had their individual
00:41runs on the independent circuit.
00:43Max was making a name for himself in CZW, and that's where he showed a glimpse of
00:48his freestyle talent, an act that would define the Acclaimed later on.
00:52He also had a cameo in WWE as Bobby Lashley's sister, yeah that was bad.
00:57Anthony Bowens on the other hand, also wrestled in promotions such as CZW and GFW, and impressed
01:03a lot of people with his physique before finally coming to AEW.
01:07So how did these two guys, who had different journeys, end up together to form a standout
01:12tag team?
01:13Let's get into it.
01:15Max Caster and Anthony Bowens initially started as singles wrestlers in AEW.
01:20They had a few matches in AEW Dark.
01:23This was during the pandemic, and AEW is booking a lot of indie wrestlers.
01:28Caster and Bowens stood out among these indie wrestlers, and soon Tony Khan decided to pair
01:31them together.
01:32They made their debut as a tag team against Best Friends.
01:35At this time, there was no name for the tag team, but a lot of elements were the same.
01:41Caster came out with a microphone in his hand dissing his opponents, while Bowens reacted
01:45in comedic fashion which would become the staple of the Acclaimed later on.
01:49This might have been a moment where Tony Khan saw potential in them, as he offered them
01:53full time contracts on a 5 year deal after that match.
01:58It was a huge deal for two young wrestlers who were craving an opportunity at this scale.
02:01They were not your typical AEW signing.
02:04They were pretty unknown at this time, and all they had was Tony Khan's backing as
02:08he believed in them.
02:09But I'm not sure even he thought the Acclaimed would become one of the biggest tag teams
02:13in AEW.
02:15Soon the company started booking them on Dynamite and they faced teams like SCU and The Young
02:20Bucks.
02:21They also unsuccessfully challenged The Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championship
02:26in December of 2020.
02:27So that means just a few months into being a tag team, they were challenging for the
02:31tag titles.
02:32However, the fan reactions were not positive initially.
02:36Anthony Bowens revealed that the team faced a lot of negativity from fans around this
02:40time, which led them to humorously declare everyone loves the Acclaimed in their promos,
02:45which worked.
02:46Moving into 2021, the Acclaimed started having high profile matches and they also pushed
02:51the boundaries on the microphone with Max Caster rapping about some controversial subjects.
02:56On an episode of Dark, he talked about Olympic gymnast Simone Biles' mental health issues,
03:01the Duke Lacrosse case, the validity of the PCR COVID-19 testing, and made a sexual joke
03:06about Julia Hart and his disses.
03:08Yeah, this wasn't gonna slide and it gave another reason for some fans to hate them.
03:13Even Tony Khan did not like the rap, saying that this was terrible and that it should
03:17have been edited out from the show.
03:19Caster had to face the consequences as he was suspended for two months, effectively
03:23putting the team on hiatus.
03:25This was probably for the best however, as the Acclaimed was still a new tag team consisting
03:29of fresh talents and they still had a lot to learn.
03:32Caster's suspension provided the team with valuable insights into what to say and what
03:36to avoid.
03:37Max finally returned to action at Dark Elevation on September 1st, and since then he hasn't
03:42been in trouble, so the suspension worked after all.
03:45Slowly, the audience began to connect with the Acclaimed, grooving to their infectious
03:50entrance theme and resonating with Max Caster's sharp verbal jabs.
03:54Starting in 2022, they aligned themselves with The Gun Club, Billy Gunn and his sons,
03:59Austin and Colton Gunn, and this turned out to be better than most people imagined.
04:03Fans felt the connection between the obnoxious Gunns and the loudmouth Acclaimed.
04:07In May of 2022, Bowens underwent knee surgery, sidelining him for several months as he was
04:13no longer in position to wrestle.
04:15Caster spent more time with the Gunns, while Bowens was still on TV, carried in a wheelchair
04:20by Billy Gunn.
04:21Week in and week out, they came out together, forming a brotherly bond.
04:26The Acclaimed even gave a nickname to the Gunns, calling them Ass Boys, a playful homage
04:31to his father's WWE persona as the Ass Man.
04:35And again, this worked.
04:38Everything the Acclaimed was doing seemed to work.
04:40The Ass Boys thing took off and even fans started chanting that during their matches.
04:45AEW had something with these two teams and they capitalized on it.
04:49Upon Bowens' return to the ring, the alliance between the Acclaimed and the Gunns broke,
04:54sparking a heated rivalry.
04:56This culminated in an intense dumpster match held in August 2022, resulting in a victory
05:01for the Acclaimed.
05:03However, Billy Gunn was caught up between the two as he probably didn't want them
05:07to fight.
05:08This led to Austin and Colton Gunn to turn on their own father, but the Acclaimed made
05:12the save from the brutal beatdown.
05:14The amount of respect shown by Caster and Bowens towards Billy Gunn led him to taking
05:17on the role of the Acclaimed's manager.
05:20This was the final piece the Acclaimed needed to get to the next level.
05:23Pretty quickly, they found themselves in a feud with the then Tag Team Champions, Swerve
05:27and R-Glory, Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland.
05:30At all out of that year, the Acclaimed challenged for the Tag Team Championships and the fans
05:35had completely embraced them during their title match against Lee and Swerve.
05:39The audience vocally expressed their preference for the Acclaimed as their desired Tag Team
05:42Champions, regardless of the fact that Lee and Swerve were also good guys at the time.
05:47They were unsuccessful at capturing the tag titles that night, but the reaction they got
05:51was enough to tell you that they were going to get their moment very soon.
05:55As expected, the Acclaimed won the tag team titles on the September 21st episode of Dynamite
05:59from Swerve and Lee.
06:01Two years after making their AEW debut as unknown wrestlers, Max Caster and Anthony
06:06Bowens were on top of the tag team division.
06:09That had to be a surreal feeling for them.
06:11People knew that the Acclaimed would be the tag team champs one day, but no one expected
06:15it to happen this soon and all of this happened because of good booking.
06:18They were strategically positioned in scenarios that highlighted their strengths while mitigating
06:22their weaknesses.
06:23They went on to have a strong reign as the tag team champs, defending the title against
06:28Swerve and R-Glory in the rematch, and also successfully defending the title against the
06:31likes of Private Party, The Butcher and The Blade, and The Varsity Blondes.
06:36They also started the Scissor Me Daddy Ass war cry, which once again proved to be a resounding
06:41success.
06:43They walked into 2023 as the tag team champs, but after a decent run of 140 days, they dropped
06:49the title to The Guns.
06:50Yeah, The Guns became their arch nemesis, and this is not the last time they would cross
06:55paths.
06:56We'll get to that later, but following this, The Acclaimed started hunting for the Trios
06:59Championships with Billy Gunn being their third partner.
07:02Tony Khan knew that the group had a lot to offer even after losing the tag titles, so
07:07he did the best thing he could and booked them for the Trios Championship.
07:10At AEW's biggest show in Wembley Stadium in London at All In, The Acclaimed and Billy
07:15Gunn won the Trios Championship by defeating the House of Black.
07:19And just like that, they were champions again.
07:21Although you might agree that the House of Black should have had a longer title run,
07:25no one can deny that The Acclaimed as the Trios Champions just made sense.
07:29Their act with Billy Gunn was getting a lot of attention and was entertaining the fans,
07:33so it was probably for the better that they won this championship.
07:37Following this, Max Caster started developing a soft corner for the AEW World Champion MJF,
07:42and AEW began featuring the two in backstage segments.
07:45It started on social media with Caster replying on MJF's post and saying quote, MJF is my
07:50boyfriend end quote.
07:52Yeah, they were teasing that storyline with both Maxes and the most important thing was
07:56that it was entertaining.
07:58The Acclaimed even helped MJF on several occasions during beatdowns and offered a hand of friendship,
08:03but this had to pause after MJF lost the AEW World Championship and had to take some time
08:08off.
08:09In the meantime, the members of Bullet Club Gold, J White and Austin and Colton Gunn won
08:14the Ring of Honor 6-Man Tag Team Championships.
08:17Ah, the Gunns are back in the fold.
08:20Hearing the name the Gunns, you probably know where this is going.
08:23The Acclaimed arranged themselves with the Bullet Club Gold, forming the group of Trios
08:27Champions named Bang Bang Scissor Gang.
08:30This was a questionable decision in some people's eyes, as the Gunns had already turned on the
08:34Acclaimed in 2022 and aligning with them didn't make sense for the Acclaimed.
08:38As you could have guessed, the betrayal happened again on March 13th at Big Business when the
08:43Bullet Club Gold turned on them.
08:45In their almost 4 year tenure with AEW, joining forces with the Bullet Club Gold stands out
08:49as one of the worst booking decisions.
08:51Nonetheless, it remains to be seen how things unfold and we must let Tony Cook on this one.
08:57Also, the Acclaimed have always thrived in whatever situation was put in front of them.
09:01There is no question they can make this storyline work too.
09:04They have formidable rivals in the Gunns and AEW can tell stories with them for years to
09:08come.
09:09They revitalized Billy Gunn's career and gave him a purpose, granting him regular television
09:14appearances.
09:15Also, the ongoing situation involving MJF and Max Caster has intrigued fans with fans
09:20waiting to see what happens next.
09:22AEW is often criticized for various reasons these days, but the thing that Tony Khan's
09:27company has managed to do is make new stars.
09:30Look at MJF, look at Darby Allin, Sammy Guevara and Ricky Starks.
09:35Now look at the Acclaimed and you can say that they are also one of the success stories
09:40of homegrown talents in AEW.