Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler aren’t good guys or bad guys; they’re top guys, no matter how the crowd reacts to them.
FTR has been teasing a face turn in recent weeks; they fired their manager, Tully Blanchard, and they’ve been working with heel teams in recent weeks. Plus, the duo has made it clear that they don’t support the way MJF has treated their former Pinnacle stablemate, Wardlow.
This shift in their attitude could reach a new level on the April 6 episode of AEW Dynamite, as Wheeler and Harwood will defend both their ROH and AAA Tag Team Championship against the Young Bucks. This bout will pit two of AEW‘s best teams against each other, and some fans might view FTR as the babyfaces of the matchup.
At the media scrum after ROH Supercard of Honor, FTR was asked whether getting cheered and potentially becoming faces would change their approach to their matches. Harwood explained that the duo is respected for their passion for their craft and their in-ring skill, and it’s up to the fans whether they get attached to the team. Harwood brought up his own experience as a fan, when he connected to Bret Hart, even when “The Hitman” had his anti-America gimmick. He then stated that his goal as a wrestler is simply to make the fans for something, as that’s ultimately his job.
“I don’t think it changes anything,” said Harwood. “If we changed anything, the fans would not wanna cheer us. I think they respect us, and I think they see the passion that we bring into wrestling. So I don’t know if there are babyfaces and heels, things like that. I think there are guys and girls that the fans attach themselves to emotionally. And that’s what I’m here to do. I’m here to make, I mean I’m wearing a Bret Hart shirt, he made me feel a certain way, you know what I mean, for 38 years, he made me feel a certain way. He hated America, so did I, dude. I don’t care. And that’s what I wanna do as a wrestler. I wanna make you feel something as a wrestler.
“What I’m saying is, I want to make you feel a certain way. I can’t do a tope, but goddang, I’ll work as hard as I can to make you feel a certain way about me and about who I’m wrestling to the point of where you can’t deny it. And you either love me or you hate me, and if you love me, that’s cool. And if you hate me, that’s cool too because at the end of the day, I worked my ass off and I earned my cheque and I get to go home and take care of my family. And if you like that, you f—— like it. And if you don’t like it, you don’t like it. And that’s okay. I don’t consider us to be good guys or and guys, we’re just f—— guys, you know what I mean? So we’re still locking up, we’re still snatching a headlock. It’s the same thing.”
Harwood also stated that he loves the fans, and it’s “cool” if that love is reciprocated, but if it’s not, he’ll still go to work the next day just the same. As for Wheeler, he noted that he wants FTR to stay true to themselves, and turning face would change things up somewhat. Still, like Harwood, he stated that fans can react however they want.
“I still wanna stay true to what FTR is, like who we are, who we’ve always been,” said Wheeler. “But I like that it gives us a unique challenge. There will be a little bit of differences here and there. Like I haven’t thrown an arm drag in a decade, now I’m throwing them every night because I’m Steamboat baby. It’s just the approach will be slightly different, but we’re still gonna cheat if we get the chance. We’re still gonna take every shortcut that we can, and you can cheer us, you boo us, but as long as you feel something, I don’t give a s—.”
Fans will have to wait and see what happens when FTR faces The Young Bucks on Wednesday night. Otherwise, it will be interesting to see what the future holds for the duo.
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