Max Caster shoots on AEW and WWE Hall of Famer backstage after The Acclaimed breakup

AEW fans are buzzing over the status of The Acclaimed. Tony Khan put Max Caster and Anthony Bowens together in 2020 under five-year contracts, but now the pair have parted ways. After a period of tension and now the official split, Caster is causing a stir by opening up to shoot on what went down and what's to come.

Platinum Max and The Five-Tool Player began making their names in the AEW tag team division and finally won championship gold with Billy Gunn as their manager. The trio moved forward and still holds the record for longest reign as World Trios Champions. Rumors and speculation on the future of The Acclaimed recently picked up, amid internal tension, with Gunn and Bowens growing tired of Max declaring himself to be The Best Wrestler Alive.

On last night's Maximum Carnage Collision episode, the group officially disbanded. Caster called Bowens out to clear the air, but tension continued until Gunn tried to calm the situation. Daddy Ass was blamed by Platinum Max, who then gave Bowens an ultimatum. Anthony responded with a middle finger, then stood in solidarity with the former WWE champion. Caster then nixed the trio, and was later caught backstage and asked to elaborate on if The Acclaimed was really done.

"Yeah, The Acclaimed is done. i'm just trying to grow as a person, and Anthony Bowens and Bill Gunn, they're not ready to grow, but everybody's at different stages of their lives, and you gotta understand that, but I knew that going into this speech today. Anthony Bowens is my best friend for life, and I know he's hard-headed, but ever since he started listening to Billy Gunn he's been a real stubborn guy, and I have been, too. Billy is a bad influence, has been since the 90s, but you know... I just told it like it was, and as the captain and the leader of The Acclaimed, sometimes the captain's gotta go down with the ship, and I was going down with the ship," Max Caster said.

The Acclaimed captured AEW's World Tag Team Championship from Swerve in Our Glory in 2022, dropping them 140 days later to The Gunns. Caster, Bowens, and Gunn eventually won the AEW World Trios Championship from House of Black.

Their record 238-day reign was ended by The Bang Bang Gang in a Winners Take All Match to unify the AEW straps with the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship.

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Updated lineup for AEW Collision: Homecoming

AEW will return to its home base of Daily's Place in Jacksonville, FL next Saturday for the live Collision Homecoming special. Below is the updated lineup:

• Mariah May and Toni Storm will face off
• Brody King and Buddy Matthews vs. Gates of Agony
• Daniel Garcia, Daddy Magic, and Cool Hand Ang vs. Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Roderick Strong

All Elite Wrestling will be in Knoxville, TN this Wednesday for Dynamite before they return to Jacksonville. A rare taping with Dynamite and Collision will then be held on January 29 in Huntsville, AL.