Anthony Bowens Reflects On Unexpected Success Of The Acclaimed In AEW

After several years of being joined at the hip as a tag team or rivals, it seems that The Acclaimed's Anthony Bowens and Max Caster are finally going their separate ways, with Caster off AEW TV and Bowens joining The Opps. Naturally, that makes it the perfect time to reflect on, arguably, AEW's most successful homegrown tag team, as Caster and Bowens rose up from AEW regulars to become AEW World Tag Team and Trios Champions, the latter alongside manager Billy Gunn.

In an interview with the "Battleground Podcast," Bowens was asked why he and Caster ended up overachieving as a team. Bowens believes it was the strong chemistry he and Caster shared, something that Bowens feels was evident from when they first started teaming all the way to their recent storyline as frenemies, which Bowens admitted they largely improvised on the fly.

"Obviously, we were a bit oil and water when it came to a lot of different things," Bowens said. "But it just, the chemistry on camera always kind of naturally shined through. People really saw that and saw how much fun we were having, and I think that helped build our profile a lot."

Though he joked that he had been a detriment to his singles run as a manager, Bowens also gave a ton of credit to Gunn for helping him and Caster achieve great success.

"Every single interview, I say he's been like a beacon of light for us, for Max and I at the time, because we didn't...everybody in AEW kind of has that mentor," Bowens said. "And you kind of figure out where you settle in with. Billy's the guy that really taught us a lot of the deeper things that we needed to know in terms of psychology, in terms of carrying yourself as the champion, in terms of getting better in general. I'm very grateful that we were able to have Billy for the time that we did."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Battleground Podcast" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription