Dax Harwood’s new FTR podcast has only had one episode so far, but the show is already garnering both a following and a backlash.
Harwood’s new show with co-host Matt Koon replaces William Regal’s Gentleman Villain podcast, which has ended due to Regal’s departure from AEW and iminent return to WWE.
The first episode of the FTR podcast featured an in-depth discussion of CM Punk, who is currently on an extended hiatus from All Elite Wrestling.
Among the many Punk-related topics discussed, Harwood pleaded with Punk and The Elite to sit down and make amends so they can all move forward and do business together.
On the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that people in AEW were ‘not particularly happy’ with everything that was said.
“From what I heard from different people, not the people who you probably heard from, they were not particularly happy at all about this. All I heard the other day was how unhappy people were about that podcast.”
Dave Meltzer.
It has been speculated that Harwood’s pro-Punk stance has caused this backlash, given that many in AEW are against bringing back the former World Champion.
When Harwood’s comments were shared on Instagram, Punk commented “Duh.”
Dax Harwood has been especially busy as of late, competing for ROH, AEW, and AAA, but the FTR member is working hurt.
Harwood and Cash Wheeler recently competed at AAA’s Noches de Campeones event, losing the AAA World Tag Team Titles to Dragon Lee and Dralistico.
Post-match, Dragon Lee announced that he has signed with WWE and the titles have since been vacated.
Working Hurt
This title loss comes mere weeks after FTR was dethroned as Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions, losing to The Briscoes at ROH Final Battle.
Harwood is still banged up from the Double Dog Collar match and is working through the pain, Fightful Select reports.
Harwood was reportedly injured after being suplexed by Jay Briscoe onto a pile of steel chairs.
What’s Next for FTR?
There’s no rest for Harwood though, as he and Wheeler will be defending the IWGP World Tag Team Championships next week at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17.
FTR, who won the titles at AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door in June of this year, will defend against Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi.)
In a previous report from Fightful, Harwood told the site that he believes his and Wheeler’s contracts with AEW expire in April of next year.
Harwood also suggested that the pair may take a year away from pro-wrestling, or possibly just work non-televised events.
Speaking on the final episode of the Gentleman Villain podcast this month, Harwood refuted claims that they complained backstage about their role in WWE, adding that they knew they’d stay “in the rut” if they remained with the promotion.
FTR are no longer the AAA World Tag Team Champions and their time with the promotion has come to an end.
At the recent AAA Noche de Campeones, the team’s 438-day reign ended at the hands of Dragon Lee and Dralistico.
After the match, Lee announced that he has signed with WWE and the titles have since been vacated.
Finished
FTR’s title loss marks the end of their 438-day reign as champions, and also marks the end of their AAA run, Fightful Select has learned.
It is reported that the tag team is “finished up” with AAA for the time being, and had informed the promotion that they wanted to lose the titles by the end of the year.
Fightful noted that FTR’s reign has been surprising, given that they are AEW talents who have been working with AAA and NJPW.
AAA and NJPW do not have a working relationship akin to New Japan’s agreement with AEW.
What’s next?
It has been a difficult month for FTR, who in addition to losing the AAA World Tag Titles, lost the ROH World Tag Team Championships to The Briscoes at Final Battle.
The pair’s next title defense will be at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, where they will put the IWGP World Tag Team Titles on the line against Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi
Speaking to Fightful recently, Dax Harwood said he believes their contracts with All Elite Wrestling are up in the Spring and have considered wrestling off of national television for a while.
Is FTR’s tenure as AAA World Tag Team Champions coming to an end? Those in the company sure think so.
The team of Dash Harwood and Cash Wheeler won the titles for the first time on the October 16, 2021, episode of AEW Dynamite, defeating the Lucha Bros.
For the match, FTR donned green outfits and masks and called themselves ‘Las Super Ranas’ which translates to ‘The Super Frogs.’
FTR’s 438-day reign (and counting) is the third-longest reign in the history of the AAA World Tag Team Championships.
The End is Near
FTR’s tenure as the best tag team in AAA has been impressive but it could all come crashing down soon.
AAA talent are of the opinion that the World Tag Team Titles are expected to change hands “sooner rather than later” according to Fightful Select.
The team’s last AAA title defense came on the April 6, 2022 edition of AEW Dynamite, where they retained against the Young Bucks.
Their last title defense on an AAA show was back in March at AAA Gira Aniversario XXX, where they retained against Dragon Lee and Dralistico.
Other Titles
FTR has proven to be a dominant duo as the AAA World Tag Team Championships, but that’s not the only gold they have.
Harwood and Wheeler are also the reigning IWGP World Tag Team Champions, having won the titles from United Empire at AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door.
The Top Guys will defend these titles against Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi) at next week’s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 event on January 4.
FTR recently held the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championships which they lost to The Briscoes at Final Battle earlier this month.
As good of friends as they’ve become, they didn’t actually meet until Punk came to work for AEW. Harwood had a preconceived notion of his new co-worker and thought Punk would say something about his clothes. Punk didn’t and Harwood realized he was wrong about him.
Dax Harwood on WWE and AEW locker rooms
When asked if there’s less communication because AEW flies its talent in weekly versus traveling together for days at a time, Harwood says no. “I don’t think there’s less communication in comparison to WWE. I think there had been times where wrestlers have leaked that to the dirt sheets for whatever reason, but they’ve never experienced wrestling outside of independents; I have. In WWE, at the time that I was there — it could’ve changed now — there was no communication at all. Even up til the start time of the show, communication was very hit or miss.”
“So, I don’t think there’s a lack of communication there. As far as politics go, the political game in WWE was not bad at all. The boys got along great. I think the girls got along great as well. There was no real political maneuvering there in WWE. I think the problems were between the office and the boys. That’s where the problems were.”
“In AEW, I don’t think there’s a lot of politics there either, to be honest. The boys have a male locker room and the people who share that locker room, share a bond and share a kinship and every single day — and I think you could ask anybody — every single day, myself or myself and Cash bring a bottle of tequila and we have drinks with the guys, just to make that camaraderie even stronger. To make the kinship even stronger. So, I don’t think there’s any political games as far as that goes.”
Competition with the Young Bucks
“I think that when you’re in a position of power, obviously — even when you’re not in a position of power — you’re going to look out for your best interests because no one else is going to look out for your interests the way you are. But, when you’re in a position of power, you’re allowed to look out for your best interest and more often than not you’re allowed to get it. But again, playing politics; I don’t know if that’s what you call it.”
“(…) I feel like there’s that competition between us and the Young Bucks. I think it’s a healthy thing because that’s why our 2022 was so great because we didn’t know what we were going to get. We didn’t know what opportunities were going to come our way. We knew and had made a promise at the end of 2021, that whatever we got, we were going to kill it and we were going to have fun doing it. And so whenever you have competition, some things could be misconstrued as political agendas, but more often than not, you’re just trying to compete and be better than everyone else.”
FTR will be facing Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI) for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles on January 4, 2023 at Wrestle Kingdom 17.
Dax Harwood of the popular FTR tag team is moving into the podcast arena starting next week. The reigning IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion will co-host a new show titled, “FTR With Dax Harwood’ along with co-host Matt Koon.
Koon previously co-hosted the Gentleman Villain podcast with William Regal. That show has come to an end due to his AEW departure and imminent WWE return.
The debut episode of ‘FTR With Dax Harwood’ premieres December 29 at on AdFreeShows.com. Any potential involvement of his longtime tag team partner Cash Wheeler is also yet to be confirmed.
Following Final Battle 2022, FTR are down to two of the three tag team titles they’ve held for much of this year.
At the ROH event, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler dropped the ROH Tag Team Championships to the Briscoe Brothers. The third of their bouts was a bloody Double Dog Collar Match that has received considerable acclaim.
Cash Wheeler (left) and Dax Harwood (right)
On Wednesday’s Dynamite, FTR lost a non-title match to the Gunn Club. Dax Harwood ate a partner-assisted roll-up pinfall to end the match.
On January 4, the pair are set to defend their IWGP titles against World Tag League winners Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI. The recent losses of their belts, as well as an AEW Tag Team Title match against current champions The Acclaimed, has turned some heads lately.
Dax Harwood himself has confirmed that FTR’s AEW contracts finish in April 2023. The fan favorite tag team’s prospects could get very interesting if they choose to become free agents next year.
Dax Harwood says 2022 was the greatest year of his life and it was capped off by a match he calls his masterpiece.
FTR is widely regarded as one of the greatest tag teams in the world and they’ve held the gold to prove it. Some would argue that All Elite Wrestling could have featured them more prominently this year, but Harwood and Wheeler’s excellence is undeniable. Their tag team record currently stands at 7-3-1 for the year and they’re 6-0 in trios matches.
As the year winds down, Harwood took a chance to look back at the highs and lows of the past twelve months and ponder what the future holds for pro wrestling’s Top Guys. It wasn’t an easy year, but that’s part of what made it so rewarding for him.
2022 and Looking Ahead to 2023
On Friday, December 16, Dax Harwood posted a touching message on social media reflecting on how proud he is of FTR’s work this year and their latest classic against the Briscoe Brothers last weekend at ROH Final Battle.
“Artists have the one piece they’re the most proud of, and that’s their Masterpiece,” said Harwood. “This was my Masterpiece. Watching it, honest to God, I’ve laughed, I’ve cringed, and I’ve cried. Over every other match I’ve had, this is the one I’m the most proud of.”
– Dax Harwood
2022 brought a wide range of emotions, including anger, frustration, joy and pain. He doesn’t know what next year will bring, but he’s grateful for the fans who have supported FTR through it all. He gives his word that he’ll do everything in his power to make sure fans are as entertained as ever.
FTR finally got their shot at the AEW Tag Team Championships tonight in the main event of AEW Dynamite.
Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler gave it everything they had but it was not meant to be. The Acclaimed retained after it appeared that Cash had the match in control.
Wheeler delivered a Powerbomb and was about to go for a cover but Max Caster countered into an inside cradle for the pinfall victory.
After the match, The Acclaimed and FTR showed each other respect and “scissored” in the ring. Gunn Club showed up on the jumbotron and most assumed they were going to challenge FTR to a match for the ROH Tag Team Championships.
Gunn Club did issue a challenge but on behalf of The Briscoes. FTR will have to shake off their loss to The Acclaimed tonight quickly as they will be defending the ROH Tag Team Championships against The Briscoes this Saturday at Final Battle in a Dog Collar match.
ROH Final Battle 2022 Preview
Dax Harwood took to Twitter and summed up his thoughts after FTR lost their opportunity to capture the AEW Tag Team Championships for the second time.
6-Man Tag Team Match added to ROH Final Battle 2022
The ROH Tag Title Dog Collar match wasn’t the only title match added to the Final Battle card during this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
Dalton Castle & The Boys are set to defend the ROH 6-Man Tag Team Championships against Gates of Agony and Brian Cage. During tonight’s Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale, The Machine Brian Cage eliminated Dalton Castle by hurling him over the top rope and onto The Boys below. Cage was eliminated by Jungle Boy moments later.
FTR has considered leaving AEW once the time comes for their contracts to expire as they went to keep their options open.
The AEW tag team has been vocal in recent months about not being completely happy with their booking in AEW and denied a shot at the company’s top Tag Team Championship despite being the number one ranked tag team in the company.
According to an interview with Fightful Select‘s Sean Ross Sapp, Dax Harwood said that he is under the belief that his current AEW contract ends at the end of April. He added that he and Cash Wheeler had had a lot of conversations about their future for when their AEW deal is up.
Options
While the two may be discussing leaving AEW, that does not necessarily mean they will return to WWE, although they may receive offers from the promotion purely based on their skill and success.
The tag team has discussed taking a year off from wrestling for major wrestling promotions, opting instead to work for smaller companies and do things that they personally find fun. He also said that having the opportunity to work more indies and various companies has led them to find out how much they love that landscape.
Harwood is set for a match with Bryan Danielson on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
FTR is the current ROH World Tag Team Champions and the former AEW World Tag Team Champions. They will defend the ROH gold at the Final Battle pay-per-view event on December 10th against Austin & Colten Gunn.
Posted November 29th, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: FTR.
WWE Hall of Famer Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat proved he’s still got ‘it’ with a win last weekend in his first match in 12 years.
In September, it was confirmed that Steamboat would be wrestling for the first time as part of the Big Time Wrestling promotion.
Prior to last weekend, Steamboat’s most recent bout had been at a June 18, 2010 event for WWE’s then-developmental territory: Florida Championship Wrestling.
One Last Match
Competing at the appropriately named Big Time Wrestling Return of the Dragon event, Steamboat teamed with FTR in a six-man tag.
It had been confirmed before the event that the trio would face Brock Anderson and Jay Lethal as well as a mystery partner.
That partner was revealed to be Nick Aldis, but the two-time NWA World Champion and his team came up short against Steamboat and FTR.
When Steamboat hit his signature arm drag, the crowd popped loudly and at one point, Steamboat ran wild with knife-edge chops.
The finish saw FTR and The Dragon lock in three Figure-Four Leg Locks to get the submission victory.
More Legends
The show was built around the return of Ricky Steamboat, but he was far from the only legend to compete.
On the pre-show, Scott Steiner won a battle royal which also included Tommy Dreamer and Shane Douglas.
Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart appeared on the show via video to praise Steamboat’s career, and Teddy Long acted as “special commissioner” for the Big Time Wrestling World Championship match between “Dreamcrusher” Danny Miles and “Neon Ninja” Facade.
When Mr. TA laid claim to inventing the Cobra Clutch, he was on the receiving end of the hold by Sgt. Slaughter, and the Rock ‘n Roll Express defeated the Briscoes.
FTR is set to wrestle at the Tokyo Dome for the first time ever for the NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 event.
Dave Meltzer confirmed on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) will be wrestling at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 as they’ll defend their IWGP Tag Team Titles at the event.
FTR’s History with NJPW
The AEW stars won the IWGP Tag Team titles by defeating Jeff Cobb & The Great-O-Khan and Trent Beretta & Rocky Romero in a three-way match at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door this June.
Since becoming the champions, FTR has retained against Aussie Open (Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis) and Great-O-Khan & Cobb in their two title defenses.
NJPW did an angle after NJPW Battle Autumn in Osaka last Saturday with FTR and Aussie Open as Aussie Open confronted FTR backstage, saying that they’re going to win NJPW’s World Tag League tournament and then go on to challenge FTR at Wrestle Kingdom.
This upcoming event is taking place at the Tokyo Dome on Wednesday, January 4, 2023. FTR wrestling at the event means they’ll miss that week’s episode of AEW Dynamite. It’s been previously reported that other AEW stars will also be working the show.
Posted November 8th, 2022 in AEW, News. Tagged: FTR.
Dax Harwood has said that he and Cash Wheeler are prepared for their “one last run” in the ring.
Harwood and Wheeler, collectively known as FTR, have been with AEW since 2020 and previously worked for WWE as The Revival.
The duo currently holds the IWGP Tag Titles, the Ring of Honor World Tag Titles and the AAA World Tag Titles, the first team to have the three championships simultaneously.
One Last Run
FTR has proven to be one of the most successful and popular teams around today, but Harwood is thinking about the group’s future.
On Instagram, Harwood shared images of FTR’s biggest matches, and addressed the possibility of “one last run.”
“All we’ve ever wanted to do in life was be a professional wrestler. Height, body-type, accent, life situations, we had all of it against us.Now, we leave a body of work I think we can be proud of.
When we started this journey in 2014, we tried to make sure we were always different from the everyone else wrestling currently. We also wanted to work so hard that eventually we’d go down as one of the greatest tag teams to ever do it. I’m not sure if we have reached that, but we’ll damn sure keep trying.
Thank y’all for going on this journey with us. Not sure where the next few years will take us, but I can’t wait for One Last Run
FTR has been announced for NJPW Battle Autumn but Karl Anderson’s position with the show is far muddier.
Before returning to WWE earlier this month, it was announced that Anderson would be defending his NJPW Never Openweight Championship at Battle Autumn against Hikuleo.
Even after returning on Raw, an updated card from NJPW still featured the title match, leading many to believe an agreement had been reached.
After being announced for WWE Crown Jewel (also on November 5,) Anderson uploaded a video saying he will not be at Battle Autumn.
NJPW President Takami Ohbari is said to be ‘furious’ over Anderson choosing WWE over his show, and has said he expects all promoted talent, especially champions, to be at Battle Autumn.
Big-Time Wrestling has announced that Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat will make his hugely anticipated return to the ring by teaming up with current triple tag team champions FTR at Return of the Dragon.
They will be facing “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal, Brock Anderson, and a mystery partner. They will be accompanied to the ring by “The Enforcer” Arn Anderson at the historic Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina on Sunday, November 27th.
This will be the first time Steamboat will be stepping between the ropes in twelve years after a short renaissance between 2009 and 2010 after stealing the show against Chris Jericho at WrestleMania XXV His last match was at an FCW house show teaming with his son Richie Steamboat against Trent Baretta and Caylen Croft.
Also on the card is former RoH Tag Team Champions The Briscoes who will take on the legendary Rock ‘N’ Roll Express in what is billed as “R’N’R’s last match at the Dorton Arena ever!”
Dorton Arena is steeped in wrestling tradition, with Jim Crockett Promotions holding regular shows from 1963 until WCW last visited in December 1993. Located on the North Carolina Fairgrounds, the unique building famously was the venue where Roddy Piper defeated Ric Flair for his first of three reigns of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship.
It's the "Return of the Dragon" on Sunday, November 27 at the Dorton Arena in Raleigh, NC!
RICKY "The Dragon" STEAMBOAT & FTR vs. ARN ANDERSON's team of BLACK MACHISMO, BROCK ANDERSON & a special MYSTERY PARTNER!
ROH Tag Team Champions FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) have been booked sparingly as of late by AEW President Tony Khan, despite being fan-favorites.
Dax Harwood in particular has a career year in 2022 in AEW. In addition to competing alongside his tag team partner, Harwood wrestled in several singles matches this year that received rave reviews from fans.
However, FTR hasn’t wrestled as a tag team in a 2 vs. 2 match in AEW since May 25th and fans are wondering what is going on. FTR competed against The Briscoes at ROH Death Before Dishonor in July and teamed with Wardlow to defeat Jay Lethal and the Motor City Machine Guns at AEW All Out on September 4th in a Trios match.
An unbiased reflection of 2022.
If you’ll just give me the ball, I promise to run as hard as my broke ass can, every time. pic.twitter.com/QA9Yw2HfmA
FTR battled Aussie Open tonight at NJPW Royal Quest II. After the match, Dax Harwood grabbed the microphone and sent a message to Tony Khan.
Harwood said he wants the AEW President to book FTR more and Tony got some boos from the crowd at Royal Quest II. Harwood sent praise Aussie Open’s way and suggested that they may be the best tag team in professional wrestling today.
This is the first time we have been overseas since 2019 and we thank you. Two things, first things first. Tony Khan we still work for you, book us, brother.
The second thing and most importantly, and seriously. I’ve said it on Twitter, these guys (Aussie Open) are the future of tag team wrestling. All egotism to the side, all self-preservation to the side, they may be the best tag team today. I might step out of the way for them.
There has been a great amount of discussion over the last two months about WWE reportedly making overtures to AEW talent who are still under contract, and a new report sheds some light on exactly who these names are.
According to Fightful Select, there were indeed some AEW stars who did receive word that WWE would be interested in bringing them back. The first name that jumps off the page is former AEW Tag Team Champion Swerve Strickland. According to the report, he told the WWE party to contact his attorney. Strickland apparently had no interest in returning to WWE, and the pitch was reportedly for him to return as part of Hit Row.
For what it’s worth, Strickland’s partner Keith Lee has apparently not been contacted by WWE.
On the tag team front, it was previously reported that word was given to FTR that WWE would be interested in bringing them back.
Any Truth to Those Bobby Fish, Adam Cole, and Kyle O’Reilly Rumors?
(via AEW)
There has been some chatter that Bobby Fish, prior to exiting AEW, was trying to get Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly to ask for their AEW releases so that the trio could return to WWE. According to Fightful Select, there’s no truth to this rumor. Several AEW sources indicated the rumor was false, and WWE sources stated that they have not been in contact with Fish about a return to the company.
Miro has not asked for his AEW release despite there being some chatter about WWE reaching out to him. These rumors were not substantiated or refuted, with no reporting either way on the matter.
Lastly, at least one AEW official stated they are expecting both Buddy Matthews and Aleister Black to be back with AEW within a couple of months. Black had asked for his AEW release and reportedly told at least one person at WWE that he wished he was back with the company, however AEW never had any intention of releasing him so that he could return to WWE. AEW officials believed that the situation had been “smoothed over” prior to All Out.
Furthermore, Black did an IG Live on Monday night where he noted he has not been released from AEW. He stated that he has been given some time off to deal with some personal things. He said he would be back with AEW soon.
Check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news. Apple – Spotify – YouTube.
Several AEW stars were contacted by WWE or those working with WWE about potential returns to the company.
When these reports came out, former WWE stars were contacted by WWE talent relations, referred the contact to their attorney, and informed AEW management of the contact.
The Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer previously reported that WWE contacted Malakai Black. Fightful Select reports that they heard from WWE sources that Black indicated to contacts in the company that he wished he was still there.
For now, Black is effectively done with AEW, but with the inability to compete for WWE for an extended period. Several in AEW management initially had the impression that he wanted to go back to WWE, and there were higher-ups in AEW who were of the “if they want to go, let them” mentality.
Malakai Black Wasn’t The Only One Contacted
(JayLee Photography)
The report noted that a source within WWE stated they heard that feelers were sent out to Cash Wheeler, Dax Harwood of FTR, and Swerve Strickland.
FTR has a while to go until their AEW contracts run out. They had spent years in the WWE system working with Triple H. Before they left WWE, the company made numerous efforts to re-sign them.
An AEW source added that “WWE had reached out in August to an AEW name who had been with the company since the start, but that even we’d be surprised to learn they reached out to.”
So far, AEW has released two mobile games for fans to play, the Double or Nothing Casino game and AEW Elite GM.
Right now, AEW is working on its first console video game, AEW: Fight Forever, which is hotly anticipated by fans and gamers alike.
Fight Forever will be the first wrestling action game by the company, allowing fans to play as their favorite AEW stars
FTR Pulled
Fans will get to play as their favorite AEW talent, with Kenny Omega, Adam Cole and Bryan Danielson just some of the names confirmed, but they won’t be playing as FTR.
It was reported this week that FTR had been pulled from the game, but no explanation was given as to the reason.
On Twitter, Sports Gamers Online managing director Mike Straw addressed FTR’s removal, and said that a problem with move set captures and nominations was a factor in AEW’s decision.
Update re FTR/AEW Fight Forever: One reason I was told was that there were some issues with move set captures and animations. This has caused changes to game's launch roster which includes FTR.
It's not the whole answer, but a logical reason why.#AEWFightForever
— Mike Straw (Insider-Gaming.com) (@MikeStrawMedia) August 29, 2022
If so, it is possible that more AEW talent could be pulled from the game, as this isn’t just a problem exclusive to FTR.
Speaking about the game, Evil Uno and Colt Cabana said that Fight Forever will feature a “deep career mode” which will see players go “on the road” with AEW.
AEW: Fight Forever also picked up the Best Sports Game award at Gamescon.
Despite reports of a release this year, no date has been confirmed for when AEW: Fight Forever will hit shelves.
On July 30, Starrcast and New Japan Pro Wrestling held Music City Mayhem at the Nashville Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee. The event streamed live for $14.99 on FITE TV.
Current Card
As of right now, the card is as follows:
No DQ: Jon Moxley vs. El Desperado
Hiromu Takahashi vs. Blake Christian
KUSHIDA vs. Alex Shelley
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) & Alex Zayne vs United Empire (TJP, Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis)
NJPW Strong Openweight Championship Match: Fred Rosser vs Big Damo
MLW National Openweight Championship Match: Davey Richards vs Rocky Romero
Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura & Fred Yehi vs Kevin Knight, The DKC & Ren Narita
An intense 24 hours in NJPW continues with Music City Mayhem!
A stacked card coming up from the Nashville Fairgrounds LIVE on @fiteTV! Buy:https://t.co/Clbrc16qDE
In the same vein, this year’s Starrcast event features four live wrestling shows. Black Label Pro, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and Jim Crockett Promotions have events planned for this weekend.
Starrcast will also feature the following live podcasts:
Father James Mitchell’s “Midnight Karaoke”
The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast
Insight w/ Chris Van Vliet
The Sessions w/ Renee Paquette
One Last Ride For The Horsemen
30 Years Later w/ Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart
Foley Is Pod w/ Mick Foley
Saraya: Turning The Page
Kliq This w/ Kevin Nash
What’s NeXT? w/ Johnny Gargano
The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy
Starrcast still has one live wrestling show remaining for the weekend. To see the schedule for the remaining events, click here.
The number of AEW stars dealing with injuries continues to increase because it has been revealed that Dax Harwood is dealing with a torn labrum injury.
One of the ROH, AAA, and IWGP Tag Team Champions previously indicated that he had suffered a shoulder injury following his bout at the AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view in June. On this past Saturday, at Death Before Dishonor, FTR successfully retained the ROH World Tag Team Titles against The Briscoes in a 2 out of 3 falls match.
Injury Update
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported, “Harwood is the latest AEW wrestler working with a torn labrum.”
Meltzer added that following the Death Before Dishonor match, Harwood also had “a swollen eye, a stiff neck, and his shoulder was worse.”
Other AEW Injuries
Another AEW star, Adam Cole, has been dealing with a torn labrum injury for a few months. He pushed through the pain and kept working until he suffered a concussion at Forbidden Door.
Even though several stars are still sidelined with injuries, some wrestlers have returned, including Bryan Danielson.
Last night at Ring of Honor’s Death Before Dishonor, the rematch of the dream match from Supercard of Honor earlier this year was held. The rematch between FTR and The Briscoes was contested under the stipulation of 2-out-of-3 falls.
Both teams went to war for around 50 minutes in another instant classic.
Following the aftermath, FTR cut a promo to end the show…or so we thought. The newly crowned ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli and ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta, both members of the Blackpool Combat Club, came out on stage.
Could they be the next challengers for the ROH Tag Team Championships?
— ROH – Ring of Honor Wrestling (@ringofhonor) July 24, 2022
In the media scrum following the pay-per-view, when asked about the ending of Death Before Dishonor and if the match could happen this Wednesday at Fight For the Fallen, Wheeler Yuta responded,
“Well, I’m not sure when it will happen, but I’m sure that that is a collision course that we’re definitely on now. Obviously, FTR in my opinion is the best tag team in the world.”
Wheeler Yuta on challenging FTR
“But there’s a reason that we have the Ring of Honor World Championship, the Ring of Honor Pure Championship. And Claudio and I’ve never tagged who’s to say that we’re not going to be the best tag team in the world.
“So I’m really excited for that one.”
The Fight for the Fallen edition of Dynamite will take place this upcoming Wednesday (July 27) at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Could we see another interaction or even a match between the Blackpool Combat Club and FTR?
Posted July 24th, 2022 in ROH, AEW, News. Tagged: FTR.
The 2022 ROH Death Before Dishonor PPV has gone off the air and FTR created a moment that one fan won’t soon forget.
Death Before Dishonor was held inside the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Massachusetts. The show got started with a bang as Jonathan Gresham put the ROH World Championship on the line against Claudio Castagnoli.
In the main event, FTR and The Briscoes had an instant classic for the ROH World Tag Team Championships. This was a best 2 out of 3 falls match and FTR won the match, earning the two falls, while The Briscoes earned one.
When Cameras Stopped Rolling
Once ROH Death Before Dishonor went off the air, FTR brought a young fan into the ring. The fan got to hoist up one-half of the ROH World Tag Team Titles.
SEScoops’ Steve Fall was in attendance for the show and he captured the special moment:
Fans of The Briscoes have wanted to see AEW sign the tag team to a deal. Fightful reported that WarnerMedia didn’t wish to AEW to sign The Briscoes due to homophobic tweets that Jay Briscoe made in 2013. It is also worth noting that Jay apologized for his comments in the past.
While it seemed unlikely that Khan would sign The Briscoes to AEW, Jaychele Nicole reports that he announced on an ROH Conference call today that the team has signed an exclusive long-term deal to return to ROH.
Will The Briscoes Signing A Deal With ROH hurt Negotiations with WarnerMedia?
During the call, Khan shared that he’s still negotiating with WarnerMedia to get ROH on Bleacher Report and to do more work with the promotion. Nicole reported that Khan wants to “Parlay BR/ROH partnership into weekly TV through Warner Bros.”
It’s unclear how far talks with WarnerMedia have gone with signing ROH to a TV deal or whether they are interested. However, according to Khan, the company is excited about ROH.
(via ROH)
While the ROH Owner shared that The Briscoes signed a deal with ROH, he didn’t say if WarnerMedia had any say in acquiring the tag team. Based on Sapp’s report, it remains to be seen if the company is okay with the signing or if they have changed their opinions on The Briscoes.
As of now, Khan is still working towards a TV deal for his newly acquired promotion. Although fans could view ROH Death Before Dishonor being streamed on Bleacher Report as progress.
Wardlow became the brand new AEW TNT Championship on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite, but credits FTR’s Cash Wheeler for calming his nerves.
Wardlow TNT Title Win
On Wednesday, during AEW Dynamite, Wardlow won his first championship when he beat Scorpio Sky in a street fight to win the AEW TNT Championship.
Wardlow has been going straight to the top in AEW. He has been reaching and achieving new heights since he defeated MJF at AEW Revolution and gained his independence from his contract with MJF.
Wardlow Thanks FTR
Wardlow recently spoke on Busted Open Radio and reflected on how he was feeling before heading to the ring for his title match.
The new TNT Champion said, “Honestly, I’m normally extremely nervous and on edge and focused, just tunnel vision type focus. Before the match, I was actually much more calm than usual. I don’t know why. Cash (Wheeler) gave me a pretty nice pep talk right before. That might have helped calm my nerves. Cash and Dax (Harwood) are always helping me out, those guys are phenomenal.
I think Cash got in my head a little and reminded me to breathe and have fun and enjoy the moment and absorb it. ‘Tonight could be one of those nights that you want remember forever so make sure you absorb it so you can remember it.’ I tried to do that and I feel I did do that.
Wardlow Reflects On TNT Title Match
Oddly enough, it was the most comfortable I felt in the ring. The only time I felt similar was (against) CM Punk. It was kind of the same experience. That match and this match were the only two times I looked around at the crowd and looked at people and interacted with people and absorbed the moment and had fun in the match, other than getting kicked directly in the balls, other than that, a lot of fun.”
Wardlow added that he wished he could have celebrated with the fans for another hour after his title win.
H/T to Jeremy Lambert of Fightful for the transcription
FTR is having an incredible year and things only got better for them at Forbidden Door. The AEW stars won a three-way match to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions. The duo were interviewed backstage after their big win. They first claimed that they will make the Japanese people fall in love with them, the same way as America.
FTR then went on to explain that this win makes them one of the greatest tag teams in the history of the business. Now their names should be written beside teams such as The Hart Foundation and The British Bulldogs:
We’re Gonna Make New Japan Our House
“We’re coming New Japan. We’re gonna make New Japan our house. We’re gonna make it our house because we are the absolute best tag team on this planet. As we have been here in America, we’re gonna make you Japanese people fall in love with us. You know why? Because we love you. We’re bringing our fighting spirit, FTR’s fighting spirit to Japan.”
“I think now here in America they could put our names beside the Midnight Express. Now they could put our names beside the Hart Foundation, The Bulldogs, Demolition. The list goes on and on. But now we’re coming to Japan. Now we’re coming to New Japan and we’re bringing these [titles] with us.
“You can write our names on the same notepad as Muta and Hase. You can write our names on the same Notepad as Bam Bam Bigelow and Vader. You can write our name on the same notepad as the Steiner Brothers. Because right now I’m telling you, none of those three teams can measure up to the greatest tag team of all time – FTR.”
You can check out their reaction in the video below:
