FTR Reveals What the Final Straw Was in Their WWE Run

FTR debuted in AEW in May of 2020 and have been a tremendously successful tag team in the company since then.

Together as FTR, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler have won the AEW Men's World Tag Team Championships on three different occasions. They've also had standout dream matches against The Briscoe Brothers, The Young Bucks, and, most recently, against Adam Copeland and Christian Cage.

Prior to this hot run, they were significant players in the WWE tag team division. The duo are three-time tag team champions in WWE and they also won the NXT tag belts twice. The team, named The Revival, was a critically important act in the formation of NXT and the hot black-and-gold era of the brand.

A pivot away from Randy Orton pushed FTR out of WWE

So, why did they leave WWE? It was a major creative pivot that forced the team out. On the newest episode of Late Night Grin, Cash Wheeler gave an exact reason as to why he and Harwood left WWE. It was because their team with Randy Orton was stunted and abruptly ended because of the WWE Draft.

"I think that was the final straw for us when we knew we wanted to ask for our release was when they drafted us to SmackDown and Randy to Raw at that point," Wheeler said. "And we knew if they killed that, that they didn’t really have any expectations or plans for us. And when they drafted us to separate shows, we were like, ‘Alright, yeah. I think that the writing’s on the wall here as far as what our ceiling is ever gonna be.’”

Wheeler said that although he didn't regret his choice to leave for AEW, he saw a lot of potential in a team with Randy Orton. Wheeler also confirmed that Orton was a big proponent of the team and was ready for it to be pushed.

FTR hasn't appeared on AEW television since they lost the AEW Men's World Tag Team Champions to Copeland and Cage at Double or Nothing. The two teams competed in an "I Quit" Street Fight. Copeland and Cage will put those titles on the line next week during the Forbidden Door PPV against The Dogs.

As for FTR, a return to television has not been announced as of this time. Meanwhile, WWE has lost some strong tag teams in recent months and has shown an interest in bringing them back into the fold.

The New Day left and the Motor City Machine Guns were recently released from their contract. Adding The Revival back into the fix would enhance the tag division once again.

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