Dax Harwood has revealed that his tag team partner Cash Wheeler almost walked away from not only AEW but wrestling altogether in 2021.
2022 has been a banner year for FTR. The duo of Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood are currently the Ring of Honor, AAA and IWGP World Tag Team Champions while earning critical acclaim for their in-ring performances along the way.
However, things haven’t always been plain sailing for the pair. Appearing on The Walkway To Fight Club podcast, the two men reflected on their journey to becoming one of the premiere tag teams in the world, and the struggles they faced to get there.
During the conversation Dax Harwood reflected on a period in the summer of 2021 where he was struggling badly with anxiety and Wheeler suffered a horrific arm injury in the ring. On the July 28th episode of Dynamite during a match against Santana & Ortiz, Wheeler caught his arm on a turnbuckle hook which aside from a serious gash also left him with nerve damage.
Reflecting on this spell, Harwood revealed that his partner considered walking away from the sport altogether.
“Cash tore his arm open and I watched him almost bleed out, and then at the same time I was going through this dark period of anxiety and I had no idea how to handle it,” Harwood admitted. “So we had to do a lot of soul searching within each other, but also with each other, to the point where, and I don’t think he minds if I tell you, but to the point where he wanted to quit last year.
“I was bringing anxiety to work and then work was causing more anxiety,” Harwood explained. “He said, ‘Look, if we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna have fun doing it. We’re not gonna let it mentally kill us and physically kill us. If we’re gonna do it let’s have fun, and if we’re not having fun, we’re not gonna do it.'”
FTR are set to be back in action at All Out on September 4th when they team with Wardlow to take on Jay Lethal and the Motor City Machine Guns.
H/t to Wrestling Inc for the transcription.