Sheamus, The Acclaimed Become Free Agents

Three former champions in professional wrestling are now free agents, with Sheamus' deal with WWE officially expiring on October 1, while Anthony Bowens and Max Caster's contracts with All Elite Wrestling also expired on Thursday.

As of Saturday morning, the former Acclaimed were still listed on the AEW roster page but Anthony Bowens and Max Caster are effectively free agents as they are no longer under contract with AEW. Fightful Select's Sean Ross Sapp has noted there could still be a possibility of the former Acclaimed remaining with AEW, with one source believing all of the tragic events over the past few weeks may have caused a slowdown in any discussions over Anthony Bowens and Max Caster's futures with AEW.

Bowens and Caster signed with AEW in 2020 and they were put together as The Acclaimed by Tony Khan. Bowens and Caster are one-time AEW World Tag Team Champions and one-time AEW World Trios Champions with Billy Gunn.

Bowens and Caster split in January 2025 and they briefly feuded before a reunion was teased throughout the second half of last year, which included The Acclaimed teaming together on a few occasions, but the angle was quietly dropped. Caster has not performed on AEW TV since December 2025, while Bowens had been featured on AEW TV in 2026 in a storyline with The Opps that saw him join the faction in April. Bowens' most recent AEW appearance was at the All Out Tailgate Brawl where he stood alongside the returning Samoa Joe and the rest of The Opps.

Sheamus' WWE exit had been known about since early July, although he remained signed to the company until October 1 when his deal expired. Sheamus' exit came about after the company reportedly asked him to take a pay cut while he was out of action due to injury, which Sheamus rejected.

Sheamus' exit ends his 19-year association with WWE, a run which included four reigns as a world champion. Real name Stephen Farrelly, the 48-year-old is able to sign with a new pro wrestling promotion and AEW are expected to be interested in him. Farrelly has addressed his WWE exit, simply tweeting: "all challengers welcome."