Dax Harwood Says “Nothing Has Changed” With FTR Despite AEW Return

Written by James Holder • Published 8th March 2023
Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler - FTR

Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler returned to AEW for the first time since December at Revolution.

The pair beat down The Gunns who had just retained the AEW World Tag Team Titles before posing with the belts.

FTR has a history with The Gunns, as it was Austin and Colten who defeated them in their most recent match for the company. Furthermore, the champions have since said that they have “shoot” issues with the returning stars.

Shortly after losing their IWGP World Tag Team Titles at Wrestle Kingdom 17 in January, the duo announced that they would be taking a break from the ring to heal from a particularly bruising 2022.

Harwood also revealed at the time that their contracts with AEW would be up in April, leaving many to wonder whether they would ever return to an AEW ring.

However, their return was followed by reports that they are locked into long-term deals with All Elite Wrestling. The same report noted that speculation about them potentially leaving and heading back to WWE was part of the storyline.

Despite this, Harwood has now dismissed these reports on the latest episode of his FTR podcast, claiming that nothing has changed about their situation with AEW. Instead, they simply got a call from Tony Khan asking them to come back, something FTR was happy to do as they were now healed up and still under contract.

Zero has changed. We got a call from Tony, this was maybe five days before the pay-per-view. I don’t know, I’m just guessing. He either heard a clip, this was the podcast where the headline was, I said we were ready to comeback, our bodies were healed, we wanted to do right by business because we are contracted. Cash and I aren’t trying to hold up anybody. We’re not trying to play the game, ‘they’re offering us this, they’re gonna offer us this.’ It’s not about that. Money is a big factor, but it’s about what’s going to make us happy. There are a ton of options. Tony Khan is onto something incredible, changing the industry, over the last three or four years, he’s done exactly that. Whatever you want to say, he’s completely changed our industry.”

Harwood went on to praise Khan further for the positive impact he’s had on the wrestling industry.

“For monetary gain, I would never play someone, especially someone as who I’m as close to as I am with Tony, especially someone who I was close to with Hunter [Triple H], who I owe a lot to. I would never play that for monetary gain. Our choice, right now, is strictly on happiness.

The pros of staying in AEW is the great schedule where I can come home and be with my family. The pros of WWE is they are the number one money making wrestling company in the world. They can offer us a great deal, but I don’t feel we could have the kind of schedule we would like. Another pro for AEW is that, unless Tony changes his mind come April, we would be able to do independent bookings, great relationship with New Japan, doing Comic Cons and meeting our fans.

In WWE, they’re on a creative high right now and I think they could keep that creative high up. They are the number one wrestling promotion, one of the top entertainment acts in the world, and have a proven track record. Strictly comes down to happiness. I don’t want to say that report is right or wrong because it doesn’t matter. Half the people are going to on Twitter and say I’m lying or trying to work.”

The star then reiterated that nothing had changed with their AEW deals, having said earlier in the podcast that they have “18 days left to make a decision.”

“These reports are going to say what they want, and that’s okay. I will say, nothing has changed and please allow everything to play out and come April, you’ll be able to understand what we’re doing and where we’re going,”

Dax Harwood Admits FTR Is Facing A Difficult Decision

In an exclusive interview with Inside The Ropes’ Kenny McIntosh Harwood explained that his next career move hinges a lot on legacy, and how he and Cash Wheeler will be remembered within the industry.

H/t to Fightful