Dax Harwood believes the online rumors about young talent not asking veterans for advice in All Elite Wrestling are overblown.
On the latest episode of FTR with Dax Harwood, the All Elite Wrestling star was asked about the rumors that wrestlers backstage aren’t taking advantage of the veterans in the locker room. Harwood said he doesn’t believe it’s a problem but just thinks some people don’t like being told that what they’re doing is wrong.
“I don’t want to say it’s a problem because I don’t really honestly, I don’t think that the guys think, ‘Oh, I’m a big TV star. I don’t need to get any kind of affirmation from them.’ I think what it is, is the culture now, not just in AEW in the world,” Dax Harwood said. “And I think people don’t like to be told you’re wrong. And don’t think people like it when other people are slightly abrasive to them and how they explain things.
“And so someone went up to Tully Blanchard and say, ‘Hey, did you watch a match?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘What do you think?’ ‘Well, I thought the match sucked.’ Tully would say that. Tully wouldn’t sugarcoat anything. So I think they’re afraid of that. Listen, I’ve been there where I’ve been intimidated to go up to Tully Blanchard to go up to an Arn Anderson who you know, he is an incredible human being, he’ll talk to anybody in a second.
“But Jake The Snake Roberts, same thing. I was intimidated because these are the guys that I looked up to. I was afraid of going up to them and saying the wrong thing. I don’t know what goes through their head. If they do think I’ve already made it, then they’re f**king wrong, and they’re f**king stupid. But if they’re saying, ‘Ah man, I don’t want to bother him, or I’m afraid of him. I’m afraid of what he’ll say.’ I get that. I understand that.
“But there’s got to come a time where you come out of that shell because if you don’t, you’re never going to get better because, like I said on our teaser, our generation didn’t have the benefit of working with a certain group of guys. There were just a few, and that was like Shawn [Michaels] and Taker and Hunter [Triple H], that lasted for a little while, but none of our generation got to work with them. So the only way we can learn is by asking.
“There are no more road trips, really, especially with guys like you hear the great stories about riding with Harley Race or riding down the Mid-Atlantic roads with Dennis Condrey and Bobby Eaton and Jim Cornette in the back and listening to Dennis Condrey explain psychology. Those days are gone. So you have to come out of your shell. And you have to ask these people who have done something in this business. How, why, what they need to do, and that’s the only way you’re gonna get better.”
When asked for some examples of young talent who are eager to learn and get better, Harwood names Preston Vance, Lee Johnson, Top Flight, and Anthony Bowens as a few examples.
“Honestly, there’s a lot more like that than there aren’t. Preston Vance stays til the end of the show. I see so many young guys; I’ve seen it in WWE too. I see so many young talents leaving before the show was over, and it blows my mind,” Dax Harwood said. “If you want to be the main event of the show, and you’ve been doing this for a cup of coffee, and you can’t stay and watch the main event and see why they are the main event, you have no place in my business.
“But Preston Vance, he stays to the very end of the show. I don’t mean just Dynamite; he stays through Rampage. He asks questions; he is front and center at the monitor. Lee Johnson, another example of someone who wants to learn, asks for advice. Top Flight as well. Both guys who have asked me multiple times to sit down and watch their matches, Anthony Bowens, a slew of great guys. And then on top of that Big Show, or excuse me, Paul Wight, Mark Henry. They stay there, and they watch to the end of the show. Like, man, you’re missing out. If you’re a professional wrestler and you work for us, you’re missing out.”
When asked if he believes the notion of young talent not approaching the veterans in All Elite Wrestling is overblown, Harwood believes it’s more of a societal thing than anything else.
“I think that’s a societal thing. I just think it’s just human nature now,” Dax Harwood said. “But we, as older people, and even people who sit on the outside, who probably still do the same thing in their jobs. We sit on the outside; we can’t believe it. I cannot fathom being a young wrestler being an older wrestler in the business, and seeing Jake The Snake Roberts in my locker room at talent viewing and not going up and saying, ‘Please tell me about psychology. Please explain to me wrestling psychology.'”
READ MORE: Dax Harwood Spoke With CM Punk After All Out Brawl, Hopes Both Sides Can Work Things Out
What do you make of Dax Harwood’s comments? Do you think more young wrestlers should take advantage of the veterans in the locker room in professional wrestling? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the FTR Podcast with a link back to this article for the transcription.
