| The Acclaimed | |
|---|---|
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| Tag team | |
| Members | Max Caster Anthony Bowens Billy Gunn (manager/trios partner) |
| Name(s) | Bowens and Caster The Acclaimed |
| Billed heights | Caster 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Bowens: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Gunn: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Combined billed weight | 695 lb (315 kg) |
| Debut | October 27, 2020 |
| Disbanded | January 18, 2025 |
| Years active | 2020–2025 |
The Acclaimed were an Americanprofessional wrestling stable inAll Elite Wrestling (AEW). The faction consisted ofMax Caster andAnthony Bowens – who comprised the maintag team of the group – andBilly Gunn, who served as their manager and wrestled as their partner forsix-man tag team matches. Bowens and Caster are former one-timeAEW World Tag Team Champions and all three are former one-timeAEW World Trios Champions.
Caster and Bowens were initially performing individually on AEW programming in 2020.[1] Caster first appeared onAEW Dark as a solo act, with Bowens being brought in a month later.[1] The idea of putting the two together as a tag team was conceived byTony Khan, who also named them the Acclaimed.[1] Their debut match as a team was againstBest Friends, during which they established themselves asheels;[2] according to Bowens, Khan offered them full-time contracts immediately after the match,[3] on a 5-year deal.[4] On theHoliday Bash special, the Acclaimed challengedthe Young Bucks for theAEW World Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful.[5] Bowens has expressed that initially fan reaction to the team was more negative than expected, which led to him ironically declaring "everyone loves the Acclaimed" in promos.[6]
The Acclaimed competed in a Battle Royal to determine the number 1 contenders for the tag team titles on February 3, 2021, but lost toChris Jericho andMJF ofThe Inner Circle.[7] On April 22, 2021 they again competed in a #1 contendership match, this time a four way, where they were defeated by SCU.[8]
On the August 3, 2021 episode ofDark, while making his entrance, Caster rapped about subjects such as Olympic gymnastSimone Biles' mental health issues, theDuke lacrosse case, the validity ofPCR COVID-19 testing, and made a sexual joke aboutJulia Hart. Caster was suspended for two months without pay for the incident, effectively putting the team on hiatus.[9][10][11] AEW ownerTony Khan called the rap "terrible", said it should have been edited out of the show and announced that he would personally be taking over the editing of the show going forward.[12] He returned to action atDark: Elevation on September 1.[13] After Caster returned from suspension, the Acclaimed challenged reigning champions theLucha Brothers for the tag team titles on the June 10, 2021 episode ofRampage, but were unsuccessful.[14]
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Beginning in 2022, the Acclaimed allied with theGunn Club (Billy Gunn & his sonsAustin Gunn andColten Gunn). OnDark andDark: Elevation, the alliance defeatedthe Dark Order and later the team ofLee Johnson,Brock Anderson,Lee Moriarty, andMatt Sydal.[15] Although ostentisiably allies, the Acclaimed regularly disparaged Austin and Colton, with Billy Gunn showing unequal favour towards Caster and Bowens. The Acclaimed competed in a #1 contendership tag battle royal on March 3, 2022, although lost to the Young Bucks. They later challengedJurassic Express for the tag titles, but were unsuccessful.[16][17] In May 2022, Bowens underwent knee surgery, sidelining him for several months.[18] During this time Bowens still attended AEW shows and performed his regular promos, although did not wrestle and used a wheelchair; Caster subsequently teamed increasingly with the Gunns.[19] Bowens returned from injury at theBlood and Guts edition ofDynamite.[20]
Their alliance with the Gunns broke down and turned into a rivalry in mid-2022, leading to a "Dumpster Match" in August 2022, which the Acclaimed won.[21] While Billy Gunn was initially caught between the two groups, his sons turned on him, having joinedthe Firm, leading to him becoming the Acclaimed's manager.[22]
In the latter half of 2022, the Acclaimed entered a feud with tag team champions Swerve in our Glory (Swerve Strickland andKeith Lee). AtAll Out of that year the Acclaimed challenged for tag team championships, although Strickland and Lee retained.[23] After All Out, The Acclaimed turnedface due to the favorable crowd reactions they would receive. The Acclaimed again challenged for the titles on the September 21 episode ofDynamite, winning the bout and becoming AEW World Tag Team champions for the first time.[24] Over the following months the team successfully defended the title againstPrivate Party andThe Butcher and The Blade in a triple-threat match,[25] the Varsity Athletes (Tony Nese andJosh Woods),[26] and a rematch against Swerve in Our Glory at November'sFull Gear.[27]
In early 2023, the Acclaimed resumed their feud with Austin and Colton Gunn. On the February 8, 2023 episode ofDynamite, the Gunns successfully beat the Acclaimed for the tag team championships, ending their reign at 140 days.[28]
As 2023 went along, the three members of the Acclaimed became focused on winning theAEW World Trios Championship. This led to a match on the July 22 episode ofAEW Collision, where reigning champions theHouse of Black (Malakai Black,Brody King andBuddy Matthews) defeated the Acclaimed, leading to Gunn—thinking he was the reason for the loss―taking his boots off and leaving them in the ring, seemingly signifying his retirement (as that is viewed as an established wrestling tradition).[29] In August, the House of Black threw Gunn's boots in atrash compactor, leading to Gunn returning and rejoining Caster and Bowens. On August 27, 2023, atAll In, Gunn and The Acclaimed won the AEW World Trios Championship fromThe House of Black (Malakai Black,Brody King, andBuddy Matthews) in a "House Rules"No Holds Barredsix-man tag team match.
On the January 20, 2024 episode ofCollision, The Acclaimed joined forces withBullet Club Gold to form the "Bang Bang Scissor Gang".[30] AtBig Business, Bullet Club Gold turned on The Acclaimed, disbanding the "Bang Bang Scissor Gang". AtDynasty: Zero Hour on April 21, 2024,ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Bullet Club Gold defeated Gunn and The Acclaimed for the AEW World Trios Championship in awinner takes allchampionship unification match to unify the titles as the Unified World Trios Championship, ending their reign at a record 238 days.[31][32]
After losing the trios titles, The Acclaimed began a feud withThe Young Bucks, defeating them on the June 19 episode ofDynamite, in a eliminator match to earn a future shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship.[33] The Acclaimed were also a part of Team AEW that defeatedThe Elite in aBlood and Guts match on July 24 at thenamesake event. On the August 14 episode ofDynamite, The Acclaimed's title match against The Young Bucks ended in a disqualification loss due to interference fromFTR.[34] On August 25 atAll In, The Acclaimed once again failed to win the titles from The Young Bucks in athree-way tag team match, also involving FTR.[35] They then began a feud withMxM Collection (Mansoor andMason Madden), which led to a match atWrestleDream Zero Hour, where The Acclaimed were victorious. In November 2024, tension between The Acclaimed began to rise as Caster began to refer to himself as the "best wrestler alive", much to the annoyance of Bowens and Gunn.[36][37] In January 2025 on theMaximum Carnage special episode ofCollision, The Acclaimed disbanded after months of dissension.[38]
On the September 27 episode ofCollision, Bowens and Caster temporarily reunited to defeat The Swirl (Blake Christian andLee Johnson).[39] For the rest of the year, Bowens and Caster would begin teasing a potential reunion and teamed up against various opponents.[40]
