Tony Khan brought in a ringer for his rap battle with Max Caster

At last week’s AEW taping in New Jersey, the company teased a rap battle between The Acclaimed’s Max Caster and CEO & head booker Tony Khan.

It was the escalation of shoot they’ve been turning into a work, after Caster offended many with a rhyme that aired on Dark earlier this summer. Khan called that rap “terrible”, and Platinum Max was taken off all AEW dates for about a month.

Sure enough, Caster & Anthony Bowens were out on stage in between Dynamite and Rampage at Sept. 22’s “Grand Slam” taping in New York City. We probably should have seen this coming when chart-topping rapper Lil Uzi Vert just happened to be spotted walking around Arthur Ashe Stadium earlier in the night...

Sure enough, when TK was called out by The Acclaimed, he said he’s never written a rap in his life, and he wasn’t going to start now. That didn’t mean he was completely backing away from Caster’s challenge, though. Khan then introduced the man who gave the world “XO TOUR Llif3”...

Based on live reports, it sounds like it did end up being Khan and not Lil Uzi who got on the mic. He eventually brought out Varsity Blonds to brawl with The Acclaimed and end the segment.

Uzi wasn’t Tony’s only option. Super-fan Westside Gunn was front row with his Griselda crew, and New York legends Jadakiss and Fabolous were also spotted in the building on Wednesday night.

It’s not clear if this is for next week’s Dark or Dark: Elevation, or if it was just for the live audience in Queens. Sounds like fun though.