Former AEW Tag Team Champions Anthony Bowens and Max Caster are expected to be free agents at the end of the month when their contracts expire. AEW President Tony Khan has yet to negotiate a new contract with either wrestler. Caster and Bowens used to be part of The Acclaimed as one of the most popular tag teams in AEW history. However, both wrestlers have struggled to find roles after splitting up and having lackluster singles pushes.
411 Mania reported the following and cited a paywall post from top wrestling site Fightful about the situation:
“Anthony Bowens and Max Caster’s AEW contracts are reportedly coming up soon, and a new report as an update (or lack of update) on the matter. It was reported earlier this month that the former Acclaimed members’ contract were set to expire at the start of the month and that negotiations had yet to begin.
According to Fightful Select, sources in the company indicated that there have not yet been negotiations regarding a new deal. There has also not been word on whether new deals will be offered or not.”
It is not a great sign for their return that AEW has yet to open contract talks about their next deals. Bowens has been featured on AEW television as part of The Opps faction, but that slowed down with leader Samoa Joe off to film another project. Caster has been missing for many months now and voiced frustrations on social media.
Why WWE Would Have Interest In Both
Wrestling insider Dave Meltzer revealed a few weeks ago that he’s heard WWE has interest in Bowens if he enters free agency. Bowens makes a lot of sense since he does a lot of branding at public events and could play into what WWE wants from their superstars.
Caster could be tricky since his rapping gimmick is what got him over, and many of his best hip hop lines not only go past the PG rating but it may hit TV-MA. John Cena has praised Caster in the past to help his cause and even said Max does the rapping gimmick better than he does.
Bowens had WWE interest in the past before opting to sign with AEW earlier in his career. WWE would likely want to bring them in together as a tag team since that’s been their greatest wrestling success.
Would The Acclaimed Succeed In WWE?
One interesting element about The Acclaimed is that they parallel another historic WWE tag team. Billy Gunn managed Bowens and Caster as part of the tag act, but they also have a lot in common with his former New Age Outlaws’ tag team.
Caster gets over before matches even start with his pre-match rap songs walking to the ring. Road Dogg cutting his promo during the New Age Outlaws’ entrances in the Attitude Era had the same dynamic.
Bowens is akin to Gunn as the worker of the group who can contribute to many areas but doesn’t have the same microphone connection to the crowd as their partners. WWE would boost their tag division by adding The Acclaimed if AEW does let both contracts expire.
Two Former AEW Champions Could Be WWE Bound Soon