AEW star Max Caster has discussed some of his more controversial raps and if he has any regrets.
During his entrance, The Acclaimed member regularly freestyles a rap where he insults his opponent. While this has been intended for comedic effect and to get a reaction from the crowd, the former Tag Team Champion has been criticised on numerous occasions for the content of his more controversial performances.
Arguably the most infamous entrance rap took place during an episode of Dark in 2021, where topics that were referenced included mental health, sexual assault and an inappropriate insult directed at Julia Hart. The rap caused outrage due to the content and because it still made it to air despite the fact that Dark was a pre-taped show and no one chose to edit out the line.
While being interviewed by Chris Van Vliet, Caster was asked if he ever thought that he might have gone too far with his raps and how he handles the more risky lines:
“No. There are raps that other people have thought I’ve gone too far on for sure. But everything that I’ve ever said and done has led to my career being at this point right now and I can’t regret it. I’ve never walked out there and been like yeah this is too far, but I’m gonna say it anyway. I think it’s funny.
Whatever I say, I think it’s funny. If it’s a bad joke, it’s a bad joke. It didn’t land, Oops, you know, stand-ups, they work material out in front of a crowd. If it doesn’t land, they just go well, okay, next joke, that one didn’t work. I kind of don’t have that luxury. If it’s really on the line I’ll kind of walk around to different people that I trust and go what do you think of this and If they really, really don’t like it, I might try and rework it. But, you know, I might also say it too.”
Following the controversial segment, it was reported that Max Caster had been suspended and that his raps had to be pre-approved by Tony Khan. When asked about this, Caster confirmed that did happen but not for very long:
“For a time. But that stopped pretty quickly. Of course, I wasn’t gonna go there again. It wasn’t even that line [Simone Biles] in that rap. It was the Duke Lacrosse, and that is a whole to me grey area because it’s an accusation, but a false accusation. But it’s also referencing something that is very sensitive in the world, which is sexual assault, and I get it, it’s a very touchy subject.
I probably shouldn’t have said it but in retrospect, how could I ever regret that? Because when I returned to TV, it was like a hero’s welcome. So why was I being rewarded for the most horrible thing that anyone’s ever said? We walked out, it was I believe Chicago. And it was a Dark, I want to say 2021, Chicago, one of these shows before the pay-per-view. And we walked out, and it was, yeah, so happy you guys are back. Anthony had been wrestling singles matches in the time that I was away following that, and you could feel the energy just wasn’t in the room.
As great of a wrestler as he is, if he kept going it would have come together and people would get on board. But that’s the yin and yang of us is he’s gonna have the platform to do what he can do as long as I’m there, and vice versa. I think we’ve closed the gap on each other.
He’s become a great interview and I’ve become a more outstanding wrestler because I’m trying to focus more on that not so much on the rap. And we’ve kind of closed the gap, and we’re becoming more one and the same. But it helped, that suspension, that thing that I said the outrage helped my career and Anthony’s career in turn.”
Max Caster Calls Out AEW’s Hiring Strategy
Although Caster has been a part of AEW since 2020, the landscape of the company has changed drastically in the years since as multiple established stars from other promotions have become All Elite. Although a lot of fans are excited that top stars are a part of the promotion, the former Trios Champion is not as enthusiastic as some. In the same interview, Max Caster called out AEW for repeatedly hiring free agents.
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