Dax Harwood Reflects On WWE Release
Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler of FTR had an incomparable 2022, holding the AAA, ROH, and IWGP Tag Team Championships simultaneously during a portion of the year. However, none of this would have been possible had they not taken a leap of faith and asked for their release from WWE in 2020.
On the latest installment of "FTR with Dax," Harwood opened up about the massive wave of emotion he was feeling during the transitioning process. He admits that his wife likely had it even harder at the time.
"After we had just turned the offer down from WWE, we tried –- it was a crazy amount of money — she said, 'do whatever you think is right' ... which, she's the greatest in the world. But, 'do whatever you think is right,' and when reality set in and we finally got our release, I don't want to even know how she felt. She finally told me how she felt but I never want to put myself in that position 'cause she was worried.'"
Dax acknowledged that they left the biggest wrestling company in the world offering them good money because they ultimately needed to try something new.
This decision, of course, came with its fair share of anxiety and uncertainty, but Dax says he was confident from the get-go. "I was never worried about that because I knew that if I/we stayed with WWE, we would only get to a certain level."
FTR's first contact with AEW
Dax Harwood knew that the head honcho in charge of WWE at the time, Vince McMahon, wasn't so keen on seeing FTR rise to greater prominence. "If Vince is not a fan of ours and he's not a fan of the division we're working in, you know, there's only so much we can do."
Harwood thought back to what actually happened when their time with WWE was wrapping up. He remembered a phone call from then Senior Director of Talent Relations Mark Carrano, where they were told that extra time was being added to their contracts due to past injuries. Carrano had previously promised them this wouldn't be the case, so that also frustrated the duo and fueled their decision to leave.
"They called us two days before they released us and he gave us an ultimatum, and the ultimatum we'll talk about on a later episode. And the ultimatum was obviously a lopsided ultimatum all for them, not for us. We lost a sh*t ton of money."
Just before the final decision was made, Dax and Cash reached out to The Young Bucks and mentioned how they might be free agents soon, and asked them if AEW would be interested in having them. The Bucks expressed interest, so Harwood and Wheeler called WWE and confirmed their exit.
Following their highly successful year of tag team action, Harwood announced on his podcast that AEW CEO Tony Khan has granted them time off to rest and recover. There's no word yet on when Dax and Cash will be returning to the ring.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "FTR with Dax" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.