Max Caster (born July 31, 1989) is an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

and rapper, currently signed to

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, ...

(AEW), where he teams with Anthony Bowens as

The Acclaimed The Acclaimed is an American professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Max Caster and Anthony Bowens. They are currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where they are former AEW World Tag Team Champions. The team formerly consisted ...

. They are former one-time

AEW World Tag Team Champions The AEW World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a standard tag team champio ...

. He began his wrestling career in 2015 and signed with AEW in November 2020, beginning a team with Bowens called The Acclaimed. Caster is known for his hip hop-inspired persona, often rapping to

diss Diss or DISS may refer to: *Diss, Alberta, a place in Canada *Diss, Norfolk, a market town in England, United Kingdom **Diss railway station **Diss Rugby Club ** Diss Town F.C. *Diss grass, a Mediterranean grass *Diss (music), a song whose primary ...

his opponents during his entrance. He released his debut album, ''Critically Acclaimed, Vol.1'', in May 2021, under the name Platinum Max.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2015–2020)

Caster trained under Curt Hawkins and Pat Buck at their Create A Pro Wrestling Academy and made his debut for the school's promotion in February 2015, later becoming the inaugural CAP Champion in December of that year. He wrestled on the

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...

for a number of promotions including

Combat Zone Wrestling Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) is an American independent wrestling promotion. In 1998, John Zandig and five of his students, Ric Blade, T.C.K, Lobo (wrestler), Lobo, Nick Gage and Justice Pain, along with trainer Jon Dahmer, began to run professio ...

. He also made a WWE appearance as one of

Bobby Lashley Franklin Roberto Lashley (born July 16, 1976) is an American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and bodybuilder. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is an eight-time world champion, having been a two-t ...

's (kayfabe) sisters on the May 22, 2018 episode of

WWE RAW ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show f ...

All Elite Wrestling (2020–present)

Caster made his first appearance for

(AEW) on the June 23, 2020 episode of ''

Dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low l ...

'', teaming with Luther and Serpentico in a losing effort against Jurassic Express ( Jungle Boy,

Luchasaurus Austin Matelson (born March 10, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and television personality currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Luchasaurus, where he is a former AEW World Tag Team Cha ...

and Marko Stunt). He came back with his new tag team partner Anthony Bowens on the October 27 episode of ''Dark'' but lost to

Best Friends Best Friend or Best Friends may refer to: * Someone with whom one shares the strongest type of friendship. Film and television * ''Best Friend'' (film), a 2020 South Korean film * ''Best Friends'' (1982 film), a film starring Goldie Hawn and B ...

( Chuck Taylor and Trent). In November 2020, AEW President

Tony Khan Antony Rafiq Khan (born October 10, 1982) is an American businessman, promoter, and sports executive. He is known for his involvement in American football, professional wrestling and soccer. He is best known as the founder and co-owner of All ...

announced that Caster, alongside Bowens, had been signed to a five-year contract with the promotion. The announcement also stated that Bowens and Caster would compete as a tag team named The Acclaimed. Caster and Bowens made their first appearance on the December 16 episode of '' Dynamite'', defeating SoCal Uncensored. The following week, Caster and Bowens unsuccessfully challenged

The Young Bucks The Young Bucks are an American professional wrestling tag team and promoters, consisting of brothers Matthew and Nicholas Massie, who are known by their ring names Matt and Nick Jackson, respectively. They are signed to All Elite Wrestling (A ...

(Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) for the

AEW World Tag Team Championship The AEW World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It is a standard tag team championship, being contested by teams of two wrestle ...

. On the March 3, 2021, episode of ''Dynamite'', Caster defeated 10 to qualify for the Face of the Revolution

ladder match A ladder match is a type of match in professional wrestling, most commonly one in which an item (usually a title belt) is hung above the ring, and the winner is the contestant who climbs a ladder and retrieves the item. The ladder itself becom ...

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. However, at Revolution, the match was won by Scorpio Sky. At Double or Nothing on May 30, Caster competed in the Casino Battle Royale, but he was eliminated by

Christian Cage William Jason Reso (born November 30, 1973) is a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Christian Cage. He is best known for his tenure in WWE under the ring name Chr ...

. On the August 3 episode of ''Dark'', while making his entrance, Caster rapped about subjects such as Olympic gymnast

Simone Biles Simone Arianne Biles (; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most de ...

' mental health issues, the Duke lacrosse case, the validity of PCR COVID-19 testing, and made a sexual joke about Julia Hart. AEW owner

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. Caster was later removed from several independent events and AEW programming following the incident. He returned to action at '' Dark: Elevation'' on September 1. On September 21, 2022, at AEW Grand Slam 2022, The Acclaimed, with

Billy Gunn Monty Kip Sopp (born November 1, 1963), better known by his ring name Billy Gunn, although he is currently finding renewed popularity under the ring name Daddy Ass, is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite W ...

as their manager, would win their first AEW tag team championship from Swerve In Our Glory ( Keith Lee &

Swerve Strickland Stephon Strickland (born September 30, 1990) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland and is a former AEW World Tag Team Champion (with Keith Lee) ...

). On February 8th 2023, after 140 days as champions, they lost the championships to Colten and

Austin Gunn Austin Sopp (born August 26, 1994), better known by the ring name Austin Gunn, is an American professional wrestler and reality television personality, currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he is part of the tag team Gunn Clu ...

on ''Dynamite''.

Personal life

Caster's father is former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

player Rich Caster.

Discography

Mixtapes

*''Critically Acclaimed, Vol.1'' (2021)

Championships and accomplishments

( 1 time) – with Anthony Bowens *Create A Pro Wrestling ** CAP Championship (2 times) ** CAP Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Bobby Orlando and Bryce Donovan ** CAP Championship Tournament (2015) *National Wrestling League ** NWL Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **NWL Vista Championship (1 time) *

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

**Ranked No. 171 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publis ...

'' in 2022

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caster, Max Living people African-American male professional wrestlers All Elite Wrestling personnel Professional wrestlers from New York (state) Sportspeople from Nassau County, New York 1989 births 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people People from Rockville Centre, New York 21st-century professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from New York City AEW World Tag Team Champions