FTR knew they wanted to bet on themselves and depart WWE before AEW was even an option.
Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler recently sat down with Jeff Snyder. When asked about their decision to depart WWE to head to All Elite Wrestling, Wheeler revealed they made their decision to leave the company long before AEW existed.
“So, before AEW started, we had made up our mind that we wanted to go out and try to prove our worth on our own,” Cash Wheeler said. “So we didn’t know what that was going to look like at the time. Whether it was going to be Ring of Honor, because this was probably 2018, 2019. Whether it’s Ring of Honor, whether it was New Japan, whatever it was going to be, we weren’t exactly sure. We just had faith that we could go out there and do it.
“Then once AEW came around, and that’s something that I wish more fans would understand is that it was better for the business as a whole. Everything across the board like it made wrestling healthier with talent. And now we finally had the chance to go out on our own, and AEW was definitely something that we were like, alright, this is where we can go, and we can hopefully thrive, and we can have freedom to go do some New Japan stuff and other stuff.
“Now if you look at it since 2019, when AEW came around, now CMLL is doing some fantastic business. AAA is doing fantastic business. New Japan, TNA is doing great right now. And then, of course, you got AEW and WWE; business is up for everybody across the board. Where men and women have full-time wrestling jobs, and they have their treatment.
“So it’s just one of those things where we saw that we could have the opportunity outside to do our own thing. And now that we’ve been there, and we’ve done it, I think we’ve shown that if you bet on yourself and you put in the work that you can win.”
FTR requested their release in January 2019
Harwood then chimed in and echoed Wheeler’s sentiments on the matter.
“We asked for our release with Hunter before AEW was even a thing,” Dax Harwood said. “I think it was January 2019 that we asked for our release initially, and we were told we would get it, and then we were told wouldn’t get it, and then we didn’t get it for a year and a half.
“But when AEW became a thing, obviously, we were super excited and super happy and wanted to join them because they had focused on tag team wrestling. They put a focus on tag team wrestling, and we had watched the ascension of the Young Bucks, and we knew that there was a market for the FTR versus Young Bucks matches. So yeah, I’m really, really glad that AEW became a thing. I’m glad we battled ourselves and came here to this place.”
READ MORE: FTR: Eric Bischoff Is Just Mad That Tony Khan Wouldn’t Give Him A Job In AEW
What do you make of FTR’s comments? Are you happy with their run so far in All Elite Wrestling? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of these quotes, please credit Jeff Snyder with a link to this article for the transcription.
