| Max Caster | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Caster in November 2019 | |
| Born | July 31, 1989 Long Island, New York, U.S. |
| Parent(s) | Rich Caster (father) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Max Caster Frances |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) |
| Billed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) |
| Billed from | Rockville Centre, New York |
| Trained by | Brian Myers[1] Pat Buck[1] |
| Debut | 2015[1] |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 2020–present |
Max Caster (born July 31, 1989) is an American professional wrestler and rapper, currently 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 Champions and one-time AEW World Tag Team Champions.
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]
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]
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]
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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]
Caster's father is former NFL player Rich Caster, who passed away on February 2, 2024.[16]
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".[17]
