The Acclaimed

The Acclaimed were a professional wrestling tag team and stable that currently compete in All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

The members of the team were Max Caster, Anthony Bowens, and Billy Gunn. Gunn was the manager of the team but also wrestled alongside them in trios matches. The team had the gimmick of a rapper and hype man.

They were one-time AEW World Tag Team Champions and one-time AEW World Trios Champions.

Career
All Elite Wrestling
On the September 25, 2020 (aired November 6) episode of Dark, Max Caster and Anthony Bowens teamed up for the first time together in a loss against Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent). On November 3, AEW owner Tony Khan announced that both Bowens and Caster had signed a five-year contract and the team was given the name The Acclaimed. At Holiday Bash, The Acclaimed would face the Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championships but lost.

The team was take off television for two months in 2021. This came after Caster was suspended without pay for rapping during his entrance. Topics he rapped about included the mental health of Simone Biles and the Duke lacrosse rape hoax. It was edited out of the show by Tony Khan.

Caster would return to AEW from suspension on September 1.

In 2022, they became friends with the Gunn Club (Billy, Austin and Colten Gunn). In May 2022, Bowens had knee surgery and was confined to a wheelchair. However, he still continued to cut promos and be at ringside for Caster's matches. Bowens returned to the ring at Blood & Guts. He entered the ring and accidently hit Caster's teammate Austin Gunn with the crutch he had. This caused the Gunn Club to turn on the Acclaimed and the two teams started feuding after. Billy Gunn eventually joined the Acclaimed after his son's turned on and attacked him before joining The Firm.

At Grand Slam, The Acclaimed managed by Billy Gunn and DJ Whoo Kid faced Swerve In Our Glory (Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland) managed by Fabolous. The Acclaimed defeated them to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship. This was team's first championship in AEW. Bowens also became the first openly gay wrestler to become an AEW champion. They lost the titles to The Gunns (Austin and Colten Gunn) on the February 8, 2023 episode of Dynamite.

At All In, The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn defeated the House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King, and Buddy Matthews) to win the AEW World Trios Championships. They became allies with Bullet Club Gold and the partnership became known as the "Bang Bang Scissor Gang". Bullet Club Gold eventually turned on Acclaimed at Big Business and defeated them for their AEW World Trios Championships at Dynasty: Zero Hour.

In November 2024, Bowens and Gunn started to become annoyed after Caster started to become narcissistic, selfish and call himself the "best wrestler alive".

On January 18, 2025 at Maximum Carnage, the group officially broke up after months of tension between Caster and Bowens.

 Championships and accomplishments 
All Elite Wrestling
 AEW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Bowens and Caster
 AEW World Trios Championship (1 time) – Bowens, Caster and Gunn

 New York Post
 Male Breakout Wrestler of the Year (2022)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated
No. 171 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2022 — Caster
No. 304 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2021 — Bowens

 Wrestling Observer Newsletter
 Most Improved (2022)

References

Category:All Elite Wrestling teams and stables