Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler have had their fair share of accomplishments during their time together as a tag team, but for Harwood, one moment in their AEW career stands above the rest.
Speaking exclusively to Inside the Ropes’ own Kenny McIntosh for Inside the Ropes Magazine, Dax Harwood opened up about his biggest highlight in AEW, citing the time he got to have his daughter in the ring with him after she overcame complications with her heart.
“Oh, man, you want to get me in trouble huh? Let’s see. The biggest highlight in AEW. Oh, my God, dude, people are gonna think that I’m this soft as ice cream son of a b*tch.
“But the biggest highlight in AEW is my daughter coming out on stage after she won her battle. And Tony gave us the blessing and actually didn’t even just give us the blessing. He loved the idea, and allowed her to come out and get a moment, because she fought so hard to overcome that, and 10,000 people in the arena cheered for her. That’s probably my biggest accomplishment in AEW.”
Following that incredible moment, FTR released a t-shirt on ProWrestlingTees to benefit the American Heart Association.
Dax Harwood Also Opened Up About Missed Opportunities In AEW
Continuing, Dax Harwood was asked about what he considers to be the biggest missed opportunity in his AEW career, and he pointed to the fact that FTR have yet to win the AEW World Tag Team Championship. Still, he admits that things may have turned out for the best as the company got to witness the rise of The Acclaimed as popular stars who would go on to win the championship themselves.
“The biggest missed opportunity? This is all selfishness, right. And I think if we look back at it, what I’m about to say, and if we went with what I’m about to say, we could have missed the meteoric rise of The Acclaimed, who would who are homegrown talent. Who are young, hungry, and the fans love them.
“I think the biggest missed opportunity came for us from April until about, I don’t know September-ish. I felt that we were hotter than we had ever been, and I think we were, I still think that now. We were, again, humbly speaking top merchandise sellers, which had never happened in our career. But we were top merchandise sellers in the company. Top meet and greet sellers in the company. Getting some of the biggest reactions, the live reactions, people actually cared about us.
“They cared about us as people, you know, they didn’t care about the Big Rig or the Shatter Machine, they didn’t care about the stuff piledriver or the slingshot powerbomb, they cared about us as people, you know, and our struggles, and hoping that we would win. And I don’t mean just win a match, hoping that we would win the day, win the moment, that’s what they wanted us to do.
“And that’s, after 10 years of being a tag team, I felt we were finally over. It takes a long time to get over, you know, and when you get over, you pretty much stay over. And I felt that finally we were over because the fans respected us and actually cared about us and loved us.
“And so I think that was our biggest missed opportunity, but again, as a company, if we would have gone with FTR as the Tag Team Champions and, and leading the division and being you know, the top of the babyface food chain, or being up there, then we would have missed the rise of The Acclaimed, and I would not have wanted, I’m glad that we didn’t get that opportunity, because I would have much rather they have gotten what they’ve gotten.
“Because what we have you can’t take away from us you know, and what we have is like I said the respect and love and admiration from the fans. We didn’t need the belts, we didn’t need to win matches, you know. We got our trilogy with The Briscoes, we got our match, our New Japan matches that were so important to us, especially the one with Aussie Open, and we got to perform and live our dream out. I wouldn’t take away what The Acclaimed have gotten to give us that moment because I think we’re going to do okay.”
After a months-long hiatus from the company, FTR returned to All Elite Wrestling at AEW Revolution on March 5th, confronting The Gunns and making it clear that they intend to become AEW World Tag Team Champions in the future.
During the same interview Dax would open up on his future in AEW, a potential WWE return and his relationship with CM Punk.
Fans call still support the American Heart Association by purchasing the afore mentioned t-shirt via ProWrestlingTees.
A huge thank you to Dax Harwood for taking the time out to speak with Inside The Ropes. You can see Dax Harwood LIVE in Los Angeles on March 30 2023 – tickets are available via FTRWITHDAX.COM
If you use any quotes from this transcription, please credit Inside the Ropes Magazine and link back to this article with a h/t to Inside the Ropes.