Dax Harwood Opens Up on FTR’s AEW Absence, Physical Toll, and Uncertain Future

Dax Harwood has broken his silence on FTR’s disappearance from AEW television following their loss at Double or Nothing, revealing the extent of the physical and mental toll the team has endured — and acknowledging that major questions about their future remain unanswered.

In a lengthy Instagram post, Harwood traced the tag team’s relentless grind back to the summer of 2014, noting that apart from a bicep tear in 2017, he and Cash Wheeler never truly stepped away from wrestling — until now. The two were among a small group of talents who worked both Collision and Dynamite each week, and Harwood says the cumulative wear eventually became too much to ignore.

“Physically & mentally, we both became exhausted,” Harwood wrote. He went on to detail a sobering list of injuries he has pushed through: three hematomas on his lower back, a second bicep tear he chose not to have surgery on, a labrum tear running from his groin to his hip, and a shoulder he described as needing replacement — along with, in his words, “probably a laundry list of other things I’m too afraid to get checked out.”

The pair’s last AEW appearance came at Double or Nothing, where they dropped the AEW World Tag Team Championship to Adam Copeland and Christian Cage in an I Quit match. Since then, FTR have been off television entirely.

Harwood was candid about the uncertainty surrounding what comes next. “I’m not sure when we’ll be back, what we’re going to do, how much longer we have, or if we even need to prove anything at all anymore,” he wrote.

Despite the open-ended tone, the team isn’t going completely dark. Harwood confirmed FTR will appear for Appalachian Mountain Wrestling on August 22nd, where they’ll face The Good Brothers in Corbin, Kentucky, followed by a shot at the Rev Pro Undisputed British Tag Team Championship against The Young Guns at Wembley Arena on August 29th.

With FTR reportedly set to enter an option year on their AEW contracts, the coming months figure to be a pivotal stretch for one of the most decorated tag teams of the past decade.