Sports entertainment fans above a certain age will recall the "Dr. Of Thuganomics" gimmick that propelled John Cena to WWE mega-stardom during the Ruthless Aggression era. Cena became untouchable as he took hip-hop to a new level and for almost 20 years, no wrestler dared adopt a rap-influenced gimmick ... and then Max Caster came along.
Max Caster of AEW tag team The Acclaimed raps a "freestyle" promo every time he makes his way down the ramp. When he first started appearing on AEW programming, Caster's raps earned some go-away heat from a section of the company's fanbase. That section has decreased in size and most fans actually look forward to his raps ... not because they're good. They're not good. But they are usually pretty funny.
That being said, Caster's wrestle-rap predecessor, the aforementioned John Cena, is a big fan of Caster's work. Cena spoke of his admiration for Caster during a recent chat with Cena Alfred Konuwa of Forbes.
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“I know of Max Caster very well, and the answer is no,” Cena said when Konuwa asked him if he could best Caster in a rap battle. “He’s extremely gifted. I remember hearing him for the first time, and asking a good friend of mine to please pass his information on to me,” Cena continued. “I immediately checked out his raps, out of the blue, and I saw what he was doing was spectacular. I wish him all the best of luck, but I can’t give him any advice because he’s punching far above my weight class. He is very gifted. He’s gifted enough to rhyme to the beat live, where I kind of did my stuff a cappella to let the punchlines sink in.”
Of course, some of Cena's raps wouldn't fly today. In fact, some of Caster's raps don't fly today either. In case you missed it, Caster delivered a rap during his entrance on the August 3 episode of Dark that got everyone talking for all the wrong reasons. Caster referenced the recent mental health struggles of Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, as well as the Duke lacrosse scandal. Caster's tasteless rap ended with a crass joke about his AEW colleague Julia Hart.
On this week's edition of AEW Dynamite, Caster referenced Hunter Biden's struggles with addiction.
