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.
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