NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, the tag team known in pro wrestling as FTR, announced Saturday that they will be taking an extended absence from All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
FTR lost to Adam Copeland and Christian Cage in an I Quit match at Double or Nothing last month, surrendering the AEW World Tag Team Championship in the process. It was their third reign as champions and they haven’t been on AEW programming since then.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
FTR hits a Shatter Machine on Christian Cage at the AEW Double or Nothing event in Queens, NY on May 24, 2026. (Lee South/AEW)
Harwood wrote a lengthy post on Instagram signaling that the group will be taking some much needed time away from the ring to rest their bodies and their minds.
“Since the summer of 2014, The Revival, FTR, Dawson & Dash, Dax & Cash, whatever you want to call us, we’ve had the pedal to the floor. Other than my bicep tear in 2017, we haven’t taken any time off from the job we’ve dreamed of having. Physically & mentally we were both exhausted,” he wrote.
“We were two of the very few talents that traveled and worked on both ‘Collision’ and ‘Dynamite.’ I’ve battled through 3 hematomas on my lower back, another bicep tear I decided not to have surgery on, labrum tear from my groin to my hip, a shoulder that needs replacing, and probably a laundry list of other things I’m too scared to check out, haha.
“For the first time in 12 years, we’ve decided to step away and take some time for ourselves and our families. I’m not sure when we’ll come back, what we’ll do, how much longer we have, or if we even need to prove anything anymore.”
Dax Harwood stands in the corner during the AEW Dynamite Beach Break tapings at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio on January 26, 2022. (Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
Harwood said FTR will still be in action to take on Ken Anderson and Doc Gallows in Kentucky at the end of August. Until then, he will be in Hawaii.
“Until then, enjoy my Hawaii family vacation photos. Top Guys, out.”
Wheeler said in a separate interview that FTR has interest in competing in the New Japan Pro-Wrestlings (NJPW) World Tag League.
“There were other things schedule-wise that were never actually going to work,” he said on “Late Night Grin” earlier this week. “So I’m saying this now, after we talked about how we feel physically, I want to try a World Tag League before we call it a day.
“I don’t know if we’ll make it all the way through. I might tap out in the middle of a match. Not even in a submission. Just go home. Take a bad bump, roll out and just be done. I gave it my all. I’m sad. But I’d love to at least try a World Tag League once because it’s always been something we’ve almost wanted to do and we’ve done it.”
Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood celebrate their victory during New Japan Pro-Wrestling at Edion Arena Osaka in Osaka, Japan on November 5, 2022. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pakinomist APP
Harwood and Wheeler have been one of the best tag teams in pro wrestling for several years. Three AEW tag team titles in about seven years certainly proves how great they’ve been.
