There is “a lot behind” FTR’s recent AEW World Tag Team Title loss to Ricky Starks and Big Bill.
On the October 8th episode of Collision, FTR lost the AEW World Tag Team Titles to Ricky Starks and Big Bill in one of the biggest upsets of 2023. Not only did Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler lose the gold, but they did so in under five minutes in devastating fashion.
This sparked rumours that Wheeler was dealing with an injury and needed time off to rest up, or that the injury was bad enough that he couldn’t wrestle a full-length match.
However, it’s now been reported that this isn’t quite the case. Dave Meltzer noted in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that while Wheeler is “banged up” he doesn’t need time off.
Additionally, the pitch for the match came from Harwood, who suggested the shocking nature of the loss could boost Collision.
“Ricky Starks & Big Bill beat FTR for the tag titles on the 10/7 Collision show in Salt Lake City. There is a lot behind this one. This was an angle pitched by Dax Harwood. There were those in the company told Cash Wheeler was injured with broken ribs and that was the reason for it. We’re told he is banged up, enough to where he was X-rayed but we were told the X-rays showed no broken ribs and he doesn’t need time off and could have done a full match.
The angle was something pitched for a shock on the show and to build a rematch and get and not to cover for a lengthy absence. The idea of the pitch is to do a match where Wheeler was injured and Harwood had to face both men and got blown out without getting much offense in. The idea of dropping the titles and doing it in such a one-sided way to put over Bill & Starks strong and to do something significant to try and help the Collision show.”
FTR Still Under Contract With AEW
The other theory that emerged was that FTR might actually be leaving AEW — a theory given more weight as Harwood had recently trademarked CMFTR. The moniker was used by the pair when they teamed with CM Punk, who some believe is still WWE-bound.
However, FTR remains under contract until around 2027, and there are no issues between the former champions and AEW.