For months, Dax Harwood has kept fans talking with various comments on his podcast about FTR’s future, CM Punk’s headspace, and more. Most recently, the current AEW World Tag Team Champion seemed to stir the pot when he grandstanded the idea of The Elite battling CMFTR at Wembley Stadium later this year. A match that many fans would love to see but seems somewhat unrealistic considering the backstage political fallout between The Elite and CM Punk.
As mentioned, there were also months of speculation that FTR could leave AEW in pursuit of another run in WWE. Harwood certainly led fans to believe there was a real possibility they could make the jump but, ultimately, the duo re-signed with Tony Khan and recaptured their tag titles. Harwood, along with Cash Wheeler, has confirmed the tag team signed a four-year deal and plans to retire once it is up.
On today’s episode of FTR with Dax Harwood, the mustached AEW star, along with his co-host, Matt Koon, announced they were ending their show. Before making that announcement, Harwood decided to read a text from his partner, Wheeler, regarding the decision to put it to bed.
“‘That sucks, man. I’m sorry, brotha,'” the text began. “‘But I want you to know, history is going to remember this all very differently when it’s all said and done. By the time we are retired and set, the truth will come out and you’ll be one of the ones people respect for being transparent and honest.'”
Harwood goes on to talk about how he is a straightforward and truthful person who has never “talked sh-t about anyone except maybe Road Dogg.” Which, he conceded, was something he thought should have probably been said.
Looking back, he wants to apologize to his fans and those who did not already like him, perhaps fans of The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, MJF, or others he upset. He never wanted to be hated so much that he would have some of the things said to him that he has, which he doesn’t want his daughter exposed to, either.
“We all wanted to do good for wrestling,” he lamented. “And, as much as we tried to, as hard as we tried, I don’t think the podcast reflected that, for whatever reason.”
Koon clarified that AEW and Tony Khan did not pressure them to end the podcast and this was a decision they made independently. They conceded that they probably did “more harm than good” with the show than expected, even if they were acting with the best of intentions.
“I got Cash so much heat because I said CM Punk was my friend and I wanted to wrestle with him,” Harwood confessed. “I got Cash heat! I don’t want that, he doesn’t deserve that, I don’t deserve that, Punk doesn’t deserve that. No one deserves that and it was all because of me. And now, I think the best course of action is to just stop the podcast.”
Harwood closed by saying he loved doing the podcast and does not close the door to doing one in the future. Koon added that they may be back soon, or further down the road, but reiterated the focus should be on Harwood doing what is best for his family.
If you use any quotes from this article please give a h/t to Haus of Wrestling for the transcriptions