Max Caster

Max Caster
Caster in 2019
Born (1989-07-31) July 31, 1989 (age 35)
Long Island, New York, U.S.
Parent(s)Rich Caster (father)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Max Caster
Frances
Billed height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Billed weight230 lb (104 kg)
Billed fromRockville Centre, New York
Trained byBrian Myers[1]
Pat Buck[1]
Debut2015[1]
Musical career
GenresHip hop
InstrumentVocals
Years active2020–present

Max Caster (born July 31, 1989) is an American professional wrestler and rapper, signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he competes in a tag team with Anthony Bowens as The Acclaimed. He is a former one-time AEW World Trios Champion and one-time AEW World Tag Team Champion.

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 his opponents during his entrance. He released his debut album, Critically Acclaimed, Vol.1, in May 2021, under the name Platinum Max.[2]

Professional wrestling career

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Early career (2015–2020)

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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 for a number of promotions including Combat Zone Wrestling. He also made a WWE appearance as one of Bobby Lashley's (kayfabe) sisters on the May 21, 2018 episode of Raw.[1]

All Elite Wrestling (2020–present)

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Main article: The Acclaimed

Caster made his first appearance for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on the June 23, 2020 episode of Dark, teaming with Luther and Serpentico in a losing effort against Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus and Marko Stunt).[3] He came back with his new tag team partner Anthony Bowens on the October 27 episode of Dark but lost to Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent).[4] In November 2020, AEW President Tony Khan announced that Caster, alongside Bowens, had been signed to a five-year contract with the promotion.[5][6] The announcement also stated that Bowens and Caster would compete as a tag team named The Acclaimed.[1] Caster and Bowens made their first appearance on the December 16 episode of Dynamite, defeating SoCal Uncensored.[7] The following week, Caster and Bowens unsuccessfully challenged The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) for the AEW World Tag Team Championship.[8]

On the March 3, 2021, episode of Dynamite, Caster defeated 10 to qualify for the Face of the Revolution ladder match at Revolution.[9] However, at Revolution, the match was won by Scorpio Sky.[10] At Double or Nothing on May 30, Caster competed in the Casino Battle Royale, but he was eliminated by Christian Cage.[11] On the August 3 episode of Dark, while making his entrance, Caster rapped about subjects such as Olympic gymnast Simone Biles' mental health issues, the Duke lacrosse case, the validity of PCR COVID-19 testing, and made a sexual joke about Julia Hart. AEW owner Tony Khan 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. Caster was later removed from several independent events and AEW programming following the incident.[12] He returned to action at Dark: Elevation on September 1.[13]

Billy Gunn, Caster and Anthony Bowens in 2022 during the Acclaimed's AEW World tag team title reign

In September 2022, The Acclaimed turned face due to the favorable crowd reactions they would receive. On September 21, 2022, at Grand Slam, The Acclaimed, with Billy Gunn as their manager, would win the AEW World Tag Team Championship from Swerve In Our Glory (Keith Lee & Swerve Strickland). On February 8, 2023, after 140 days as champions, they lost the championships to Colten and Austin Gunn on Dynamite. At All In, Caster, Bowens and Billy won the AEW World Trios Championship from The House of Black. At Dynasty: Zero Hour on April 21, 2024, ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champions Bullet Club Gold (Jay White, Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn) defeated Caster, Bowens, and Billy for the AEW World Trios Championship in a winner takes all championship unification match to unify the titles as the Unified World Trios Championship, ending their reign at a record 238 days.[14][15] The Acclaimed then began a feud with The Young Bucks, defeating them on the June 19 episode of Dynamite, in a eliminator match to earn a future shot at the AEW World Tag Team Championship.[16] The Acclaimed were also apart of Team AEW that defeated The Elite in a Blood and Guts match on July 24 at the namesake event. On the August 14 episode of Dynamite, The Acclaimed's title match against The Young Bucks ended in a disqualification loss due to interference from FTR.[17] On August 25 at All In, The Acclaimed once again failed to win the titles from The Young Bucks in a three-way tag team match, also involving FTR.[18] In November 2024, tension between The Acclaimed began to rise as Caster began to act more arrogant and referred to himself as the "best wrestler alive", much the annoyance of Bowens and Gunn.[19][20]

Personal life

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Caster's father is former NFL player Rich Caster.[21]

Other media

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Caster, under his alias Platinum Max, provided several original tracks for the soundtrack to AEW's first video game release AEW Fight Forever, which were later made available to stream as a collection titled "Songs From a Video Game".[22]

Discography

[edit]

Mixtapes

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  • Critically Acclaimed, Vol.1 (2021)

Championships and accomplishments

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Caster (right) as AEW World Trios Champion in August 2023.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e Rose, Bryan (November 3, 2020). "AEW signs Anthony Bowens and Max Caster". F4Wonline.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  2. ^ Nature, Heel By (May 15, 2021). "AEW's Max Caster Files Trademark For 'Platinum'". Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  3. ^ Tedesco, Mike (June 23, 2020). "AEW Dark Results – 6/23/20 (Brian Cage in action, Orange Cassidy vs. Peter Avalon)". WrestleView.com. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  4. ^ Klyn, Parker (October 27, 2020). "AEW Dark Results: Cutler vs. Avalon III, Hikaru Shida vs. Leyla HirschH". F4WOnline.com. Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
  5. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (November 3, 2020). "AEW Signs Anthony Bowens And Max Caster To Contracts, Bowens And Caster Comment". Fightful. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  6. ^ Lee, Joseph (December 4, 2020). "Note On How Long Recent AEW Contracts Are For Younger Talent". 411Mania. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  7. ^ Boutwell, Josh (December 16, 2020). "AEW Dynamite Results – 12/16/20 (Omega vs. Janela, 12-Man Tag, Cody Rhodes, Sting and more)". Wrestleview.
  8. ^ Keller, Wade (December 24, 2020). "12/23 AEW Dynamite TV Report: Keller's report on Young Bucks vs. The Acclaimed, Jericho & MJF vs. Top Flight, Sting interview with Schiavone, more". Pro Wrestling Torch.
  9. ^ Rose, Bryan (March 3, 2021). "Max Caster qualifies for ladder match at AEW Revolution". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results.
  10. ^ Powell, Jason (March 7, 2021). "AEW Revolution results: Powell's live review of Kenny Omega vs. Jon Moxley in an Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match for the AEW Championship, Young Bucks vs. Chris Jericho and MJF for the AEW Tag Titles, surprise debut, Face of the Revolution ladder match for a TNT Title shot". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  11. ^ Powell, Jason (May 30, 2021). "AEW Double Or Nothing results: Powell's live review of Kenny Omega vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Pac for the AEW Championship, Hikaru Shida vs. Britt Baker for the AEW Women's Title, Miro vs. Lance Archer for the TNT Title, The Young Bucks vs. Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston for the AEW Tag Titles, The Pinnacle vs. The Inner Circle in a Stadium Stampede match". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  12. ^ Currier, Joseph (August 4, 2021), "Tony Khan: 'Terrible' Max Caster AEW Dark Rap Shouldn't Have Aired", Wrestling Observer Newsletter, retrieved August 4, 2021
  13. ^ Rose, Bryan (September 1, 2021). "Max Caster Makes AEW Return During Dark: Elevation Tapings". F4WOnline.com. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
  14. ^ "Bullet Club Gold Are The Unified World Trios Champions". AEW. April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  15. ^ Miller, Haley (April 21, 2024). "Bullet Club Gold Become the Inaugural Unified World Trios Champions at AEW Dynasty". ComicBook. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  16. ^ Rueter, Sean (June 19, 2024). "The Acclaimed force The Young Bucks to defend their AEW Tag titles". Cageside Seats. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  17. ^ Powell, Jason (August 14, 2024). "AEW Dynamite results (8/14): Powell's live review of The Young Bucks vs. The Acclaimed for the AEW Tag Team Titles, Mercedes Mone vs. Hikaru Shida for the TBS Title". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  18. ^ Powell, Jason (August 25, 2024). "AEW All In results: Powell's live review of Swerve Strickland vs. Bryan Danielson for the AEW World Championship, Toni Storm vs. Mariah May for the AEW Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  19. ^ Knight, Cain A. (November 2, 2024). "Something is wrong with The Acclaimed". Cageside Seats. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  20. ^ Rueter, Sean (November 23, 2024). "Tensions between The Acclaimed help Private Party retain at Full Gear". Cageside Seats. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  21. ^ Barrasso, Justin (January 27, 2021). "Left My Wallet: AEW's Max Caster on Sports, Hip-Hop and Wrestling". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  22. ^ "Max Caster Songs From AEW Fight Forever Now Available To Stream". WrestlingHeadlines. July 3, 2023. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  23. ^ "Official AEW World Tag Team Championship Title History". All Elite Wrestling.
  24. ^ "CAP Championship". Cagematch.net. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  25. ^ "CAP Tag Team Champion". Cagematch.net. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  26. ^ cite web|url= https://www.cagematch.net/?id=26&nr=3802
  27. ^ "NWL Heavyweight Championship". Cagematch.net. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  28. ^ cite web|url= https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=239333
  29. ^ Staszewski, Joseph (December 27, 2022). "The Post's 2022 pro wrestling awards". New York Post. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
  30. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2022". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  31. ^ Jaymond P (February 24, 2023). "2022 Wrestling Observer Awards Results". WrestlePurists. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  32. ^ Meltzer, Dave (February 2023). "February 2023 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Results of the 2022 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards". Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
[edit]
Preceded by 9th AEW World Tag Team Champion
September 21, 2022 – present
With: Anthony Bowens 		Succeeded by
The Gunn Club
(Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn)
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