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
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 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]
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 ChampionsBullet Club Gold (Jay White, Austin Gunn and Colten Gunn) defeated Caster, Bowens, and Billy for the AEW World Trios Championship in a winner takes allchampionship 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]
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]
^Meltzer, Dave (February 2023). "February 2023 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Results of the 2022 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards". Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
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