AEW: The Acclaimed are a highlight in a stacked division

The Acclaimed performed very well across from the Young Bucks in their first main event exposure as a part of a very deep AEW tag team division.

Wednesday’s edition of AEW Dynamite featured a main event bout between the Young Bucks defending their tag team titles against the duo known as the Acclaimed. The Bucks came out on top as expected, but Max Caster and Anthony Bowens looked great in their defeat. AEW boasts a super deep tag team division and the Acclaimed are one of the groups that stand out amongst the rest of the pack.

It took the Bucks nearly 15 minutes to put away the challengers on Wednesday. Caster and Bowens were able to hit a wealth of offense on their own, even getting in a couple of near falls toward the end of the match. Still, they took the loss – only their second in the promotion since their debut back in October. The question of where they go next is one that will be watched closely.

It is always interesting to see how promotions handle wrestlers after taking a loss. Within WWE the frustration around 50/50 booking is real there, as it devalues wins and losses, and neither wrestler gets over in the end. With AEW the issue is that when an individual loses their title match, they are shuffled back to the mid-card without any clear direction, or it takes a while to develop where they go next. Brian Cage, Lance Archer, Scorpio Sky, Nyla Rose, and others stand out as examples of characters that were heated up very well, then immediately cooled down in a sudden fashion. Will the same thing happen to the Acclaimed? It is too early to tell, but AEW has a special tag team on their hands.

To think that this pairing almost never happened. Bowens was over in WWE NXT and was expected to be signed by the promotion after three tryouts, but that did not come to fruition. Many may remember Bowens from the 2016 incident where he was badly injured in a match with Authors of Pain. That moment could have crushed his career, but instead he is continued to push forward ever since. Caster was also a highly-touted prospect that bounced around between promotions before landing in AEW and being paired with Bowens.

The Acclaimed have received a positive reception since their debut on AEW Dark back in October. From October to December the group has had a quick rise to the main event level. Now, it’s time to see if that interest can be maintained as they are part of a tag team division with multiple teams prepared to push through to the top of the heap. The Young Bucks are on top with a lot of talent chasing them; exactly how a tag team division should look in the world of professional wrestling.