The Acclaimed as faces

[The Ichi]

So I've kinda recently done a bit of a 180 on these guys. They always never clicked with me at all, but I'm finding myself enjoying them even in a love-to-hate way. It helps that they've dialed the shock humour down a bit and even get to look like a decent threat. I can actually see them making good babyfaces one day, maybe Anthony more than Max. Imagine a diss music video on FTR or Team Taz. Anyone else enjoying them lately?

[Kalmia]

They've been great ever since Caster did /that/ rap and had to take some time out. Both the gimmick and the wrestling are clicking really well.

[Fake Jesus]

Nah. It's like Jericho: the act inherently doesn't work when the biggest joke stops being itself. Unless they find some other gimmick or it turns out MC has only been pretending to be a shit rapper

[Deleted]

I think they can be tweeners insofar as they are equal opportunity assholes to everyone. In fact, I kind of feel like that’s essentially what they already are.

But Max Caster can absolutely never deliberately try to be a “good guy,” or the whole act will implode. Him being a creepy, insufferable, weirdo is what makes them as great as they are.

[Fade is a CodyCryBaby]

Maybe one day../

But Id want to see them heels for much longer.

[Allie Kitsune]

Jan 30, 2022 0:43:43 GMT -5 @mattyphatty said:

I think they can be tweeners insofar as they are equal opportunity assholes to everyone. In fact, I kind of feel like that’s essentially what they already are.

But Max Caster can absolutely never deliberately try to be a “good guy,” or the whole act will implode. Him being a creepy, insufferable, weirdo is what makes them as great as they are.

They definitely are.

Caster's whole thing is that he's an off-putting abrasive weirdo shitlord to compensate for his own massive insecurities (but sometimes that makes him just a _little_ bit endearing, despite it all), while Bowens is the far better athlete and worker, and is only a bad guy at all because he helps Max cheat.

Not to mention the crowd always gives them the cheap pop for the "[City]! The Acclaimed have arrived!" and "Everybody loves The Acclaimed!" lines.

[Oh Cry Me a Screwball]

Jan 30, 2022 0:19:19 GMT -5 Kalmia said:

They've been great ever since Caster did /that/ rap and had to take some time out. Both the gimmick and the wrestling are clicking really well.

Yeah, whether Max would admit to it or not, that one particular joke which crossed the line worked in his favor long term, because he's going to be more careful, and probably learned to punch up when it comes to his real-life/pop-culture jokes.

I think they could work as faces, in the same way that Enzo Amore was once one of the most popular wrestlers in the world for a time. Be just as annoying as he is as a heel, but direct all of that energy to the heels instead of the fans.

[Cyno]

I think Bowens can absolutely be a great face.

Not sure about Caster or the act as a whole.

[Deputy Muscle]

I think their presentation right now is perfect for them.
Couple of guys talking/rapping a lot of s*** but generally able to back it up to a degree.
Crowd digging them as they are so no reason to change much up right now.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

If Cena could be a face, Caster can be a face

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

I think being equal opportunity assholes is the way to go instead of a face turn.

[ghost]

They can work as faces but Max can’t change his persona. He pretty much has to stay the same but just target his raps to heels. That’s the only way it can work. I actually think Bowens is way more obnoxious (likely intentional on his part) when he screams on the mic constantly during his intro and distracts from Max’s raps by screaming into the camera while it’s going on. I guess cheap pops are cheap pops even if belted into the mic as loud as humanly possible.

[thehottag]

The Acclaimed could be faces, but only in the sense they wrestle against heels & their insults/raps target the bad guys. The second you start to give them face tendencies then you take away their coolness, which is death for an act like this.

[El Cokehead del Knife Fight]

Jan 31, 2022 15:37:14 GMT -5 thehottag said:

The Acclaimed could be faces, but only in the sense they wrestle against heels & their insults/raps target the bad guys. The second you start to give them face tendencies then you take away their coolness, which is death for an act like this.

I think it also comes down to making them face would lead to them toning down how deeply weird and kinda pathetic Max is. That's a fun part of their chemistry, he's clearly overcompensating.