The only thing for sure about Dax Harwood and FTR right now is nothing is for sure.
On the latest episode of FTR with Dax Harwood, the All Elite Wrestling star was asked about his contract situation following AEW Revolution. When asked about a report from earlier this week where it was said they are currently under long-term deals and this has been part of an elaborate storyline, Harwood was careful not to confirm or deny the report. But made it clear that zero has changed regarding their contract situation.
“Zero has changed. Okay, I’ll give you — all right. So we talked about the magic of wrestling and stuff, and umm — zero has changed. Let’s put it that way,” Dax Harwood said. “We got a call from Tony [Khan]. And this was maybe five days before the pay-per-view.
“It could have been four days before the pay-per-view, and I don’t know, and I’m just guessing that he either heard a clip, listened to the podcast, or read one of the headlines where I said we were ready to come back our bodies were healed. We were just waiting for the call. And we wanted to do what was right by business because we are contracted through April.”
Harwood then proceeded to run down the pros of cons of choosing to remain with All Elite Wrestling or return to WWE. Saying at the end of the day, it just comes down to happiness.
“Just recently, we’ve been talking about what my status is with the company,” Dax Harwood continued. “And here’s the thing, like Cash and I never ever were not trying to hold up anybody AEW or WWE or New Japan are not we’re not trying to hold anybody up for more money. Or, like we’re not trying to play the game, as far as like, well, they’re gonna offer us this. They’re offering us this. It’s not even about that.
“It’s about what is going to honestly like money’s a big, big factor. What’s going to make us happy? And weighing options, there are tons of options. Tony Khan is onto something incredible, changing the industry over the last three or four years. He has done exactly that. And whatever you believe or think about him or whatever you want to say, he has completely changed our industry.
“Because for so long, there was one place to go. And there was one place that fans could go and watch, and that’s it. And I think that I’m being a realist when I say this, and I think there’s other people that believe this too, the product the WWE had gotten stagnant for a very long time because there was that one place to go. Tony came along, and he is a heavy hitter, man. And he brought in some heavy hitters with him, and that made WWE step their game up, as you can see the last couple of months they really have.
“But I would never, for monetary gain. I would never play someone, especially someone I’m as close to as Tony, especially someone who I was as close to Hunter [Triple H], who I owe a lot to. I would never play them for monetary gain. Our choice right now is strictly on happiness. That’s all. So the pros of staying in AEW is a great schedule where I can come home and be with my family. The pros of WWE is they are the number one, at least for the foreseeable future too; they are the number one money-making professional wrestling company in the world. And they prop monetarily they could offer us a great deal too.
“And I don’t think in WWE; I don’t feel like we will be able to have a kind of schedule that we would like to do. Another pro for AEW is that, well unless Tony changes his mind come April, we will be able to do independent bookings. A great relationship with New Japan where we can go. New Japan is a huge dream for me and Cash being able to work there. Doing Wrestle Kingdom was, I can’t explain it. I can’t put into words how emotional it was for us.
“But doing New Japan, doing the independents, going out and being able to do comic cons and things and meeting some of our fans. Those are the pros in AEW and WWE; they’re on a creative high right now. And I think that they could be able to keep that creative high up. They are the number one wrestling promotion, one of the top entertainment acts in the whole wide world, and they have a proven track record. So there’s a lot of things that we got to weigh, and like I said, it strictly comes down to happiness.
Harwood closed by reiterating he doesn’t want to say if the report is right or wrong because it doesn’t matter because everyone is going to call him a liar on Twitter anyway. He promised that come April; you’ll understand what they’re doing.
“I don’t want to say that report is right or wrong because it doesn’t matter. Half the people are going to go on Twitter and say — actually, all of them 100% are going to say that I’m lying,” Dax Harwood admitted. “Most of them will say that I’m lying and trying to work them.
“I have pitched things to you for the podcast that didn’t go through my mind initially thinking that we were going to work our fans, but it was working our fans, and you pitched back, ‘I don’t think that’s the right thing to do. Because it looks and sounds like we’re working our fans.’ And I said you’re exactly right. That’s the last thing we want to do is work our fans. There’s nothing — there’s no gain for me.
“There’s zero gain for me and Cash right now. If we’re lying to the public, no gain at all. Honestly, what is it going to do if I lie to you and say oh, we’ve signed the deal or no, we haven’t signed the deal. There’s zero gain in that at all. If anything, it’s hurting us. Because if we’re lying, then that goes against our word with either Tony or Hunter or Vince or whoever or New Japan or AAA or whatever.
“So there’s zero gain in that. I will say that these reports are going to say whatever they want, and that’s okay. I will just say nothing has changed. And please allow everything to play out because come April, you’ll be able to understand what we’re doing and where we’re going.”
READ MORE: Update On FTR’s AEW Contract Status After Return At AEW Revolution
What do you make of Dax Harwood’s comments? Do you think FTR are under long-term contracts with All Elite Wrestling? Or are their contracts really up next month? 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.
