"It boggles my mind" - FTR's Dax Harwood on fans being unhappy with AEW for hiring former WWE stars
Dax Harwood recently shared his thoughts on many fans being unhappy with AEW for hiring several former WWE stars in recent months.
Over the last few months, AEW has brought in several high-profile former WWE stars like Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, and Adam Cole, to name a few. While many are delighted to see their favorite stars in Tony Khan's promotion, a section of the fanbase thinks this could be detrimental to the growth of AEW's homegrown stars.
Man of the people. @DaxFTR ✌️ #AEWDynamite #AEWonTNT https://t.co/fYxXXRv5c3
In a recent chat with TSN, FTR's Dax Harwood addressed the issue. The former AEW Tag Team Champion explained that it's not viable to build a major wrestling promotion by simply hiring independent wrestlers.
Harwood pointed out that TV wrestling is entirely a different beast from pro wrestling and that it requires the involvement of experienced workers.
"There are a lot of fans — and it boggles my mind — who are upset by this. They’re upset by seeing a lot of former WWE talent [in AEW]. They’ve got to understand AEW cannot just hire independent wrestlers because if they only hire independent wrestlers for a television product, it’s almost like the blind leading the blind. You have to have people who are experienced in television wrestling because it’s a completely different beast from just professional wrestling..” said Dax Harwood.
FTR lost their AEW Tag Team Championship match at Full Gear 2021
At AEW's final pay-per-view of the year, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler challenged Lucha Bros for the AEW Tag Team Championships. However, FTR failed to win the match, though they did come close to winning the titles on more than one occasion during the bout.
Confirmed: FTR Will be defending the AAA Tag Team Championships at Triplemania vs The Lucha brothers 🤑😈🔥 https://t.co/kLzJh0kuql
That said, FTR is still in possession of the AAA Tag Team Championships. They will defend their titles against Lucha Bros at AAA TripleMania Regia II on December 4th. If FTR manages to retain their titles at the show, they could lay claim to another shot at the AEW Tag Team Championships.
Do you agree with Dax Harwood's assessment of why AEW hires former WWE stars? Sound off in the comments section below.