FTR (Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood) recently appeared on The Walkway to Fight Club’ podcast for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.
During the discussion, Wheeler recalled telling Harwood that he wanted to leave pro wrestling after their issues last year.
Wheeler was involved in an incident in which he tore open his arm when his forearm got caught on a hook that was located near the ring rope. Harwood was also struggling with issues related to anxiety.
Wheeler said, “Personally, man, last year, as we’ve spoke about in great detail was very, very dark for both of us. Cash tore his arm open and I watched him almost bleed out and then at the same time, I was going through this dark period of anxiety and I had no idea how to handle it and so, we had to do a lot of soul searching within each other, but also with each other and to the point where — I don’t think he minds if I tell you but to the point where he wanted to quit last year. He called me after the arm thing and he was in tears man. He’ll still kick everybody’s ass so don’t mistake that. He called me in tears and he was like, ‘Hey, I just want you to know that I think that I’m ready to retire. I think I wanna quit, I’m not having fun’ and we both started crying and he was like, ‘I’ve wanted to do this just for fun. I’ve wanted to do this for enjoyment and not for money and now I feel like I’m just doing it for money and I feel like I care more about it than it cares about me’ and he said, ‘We both have separate contracts and you can keep going. I don’t wanna hinder you or your family but I think I’m gonna quit’ and so we had this long conversation and we talked about it and then he helped me get out of my anxiety period too and anxiety breeds a lot of hardships, you know? And so, I was taking my anxiety out on wrestling because I’d never take it out on my wife and daughter but like, I was bringing my anxiety to work and then work was causing stress and then he told me, he said, ‘Look, if we’re gonna do this, we’re gonna have fun doing it. We’re not gonna let it mentally kill us and physically kill us. But if we’re gonna do it, let’s have fun and if we’re not having fun, we’re not gonna do it’ and man, I’m not kidding, after that speech, conversation, whatever he gave me, things started picking up and turning around for us. That’s when Darby [Allin] and Sting happened, that’s when Darby, Sting and [CM] Punk happened then Punk and Mox and all these things started rolling and getting into place and that’s how the universe works and what I perceive to be, not everyone, but I perceive to be God and faith, that’s how it all works and so, all that wrapped in on top of the titles, on top of Bret Hart working with us. That’s why I think 2022 has been the most fulfilling, successful year of our career.”
You can check out the complete interview below:
(h/t to PostWrestling for transcription)
