The Acclaimed Defeat Swerve In Our Glory, Retain AEW Tag Team Title at Full Gear 2022

The Acclaimed beat Swerve In Our Glory at Full Gear on Saturday to retain the AEW World Tag Team Championships.

The Acclaimed may have won, but the story here is Keith Lee abandoning the match and presumably ending his partnership with Swerve Strickland.

The latter wrestler attempted to use pliers late in the match but was stopped by Billy Gunn.

Referees then ejected Gunn, giving Swerve In Our Glory another chance to use them. However, Lee wasn't for using those dirty tactics.

Strickland responded in kind by slapping him across the face.

Lee then helped Anthony Bowens to his feet, and this, in essence, became a two-on-one match. Soon enough, the Acclaimed got the victory after hitting their finisher on Strickland.

This was the third championship match between The Acclaimed and Swerve In Our Glory, and it was the second pay-per-view in a row at which the teams battled for tag team gold.

Their rivalry started leading up to All Out, and something unexpected happened on the road to that contest, as the All Elite Wrestling fanbase threw its support fully behind The Acclaimed.

Max Caster and Bowens had spent much of their time in the company as heels, but Caster's raps, The Acclaimed's "scissoring" gesture and their association with Billy Gunn helped them become beloved figures.

Lee and Strickland were popular in their own right, but seemingly everyone in the building wanted The Acclaimed to become the new AEW world tag team champions at All Out on September 4.

Despite that, Swerve In Our Glory retained the straps and received something of a heel response. The Acclaimed would not be out of the championship picture for long, though.

Two weeks later, Caster and Bowens were given another shot at the titles on the Grand Slam edition of Dynamite, and they became AEW tag champs for the first time.

Their fan reaction continued to grow from there, and they established themselves as legitimate champions as well, retaining in a three-way match against Private Party and the team of The Butcher and The Blade, as well as in a basic tag bout against Tony Nese and Josh Woods.

During that same time, Lee and Strickland earned a chance to regain the AEW World Tag Team Championships by beating FTR to become the No. 1 contenders.

In an apparent attempt to get inside the heads of Caster and Bowens prior to Full Gear, Strickland kidnapped Gunn and attacked him. Lee seemed shocked by his teammate's actions, which called into question whether Swerve In Our Glory was on the same page.

The Acclaimed took advantage of the potential division by retaining on Saturday and continuing their entertaining reign as tag team champions.

---

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below (warning: some language NSFW).