Anthony Bowens and Max Caster, formerly known together as The Acclaimed, appeared to be close to a reunion during "AEW Collision."
Bowens and Caster split in January after tensions boiled over between them and manager-mentor Billy Gunn, with Bowens choosing Gunn over Caster. Since then, Bowens and Gunn have split after weeks of losses in the former's attempt to break out into singles stardom.
During Saturday's "Collision," Bowens sustained the latest defeat to Konosuke Takeshita in the opening bout of the Continental Championship mini-tournament. Afterward, Bowens was talking to Jerry Lynn in a backstage segment before Caster bumped past them, spurring a brawl between them down to the ring, all while Lynn watched on in ire. Bowens got the better of Caster in the corner, prompting Lynn to separate them; Bowens turned to strike Lynn, stopping short before the veteran took to the microphone and questioned what happened to the former AEW World Tag Team Champions.
He said their attempted singles runs have been failures, pointing out Caster's lack of victories and Bowens's floundering around the midcard. Bowens sought to leave the ring as Lynn continued, but Lee Johnson and Blake Christian emerged to say that Lynn should be investing his time in them. They then got into a brawl with Lynn, with Caster coming to the veteran's rescue as Bowens stood on the outside conflicted. He opted to run in and join Caster in making the save, with the three of them clearing the ring of Johnson and Christian.
Lynn ended the segment raising Caster and Bowens's hands at the same time, teasing their reunion before they both pulled away and left, looking to pour water on that idea to leave Lynn alone in the ring.
