Dax Harwood clarifies what he means when he says he and Cash Wheeler were never Triple H's guys.
Harwood and Wheeler had a remarkable run in WWE; The Revival, as they were known at the time, were the first WWE Tag Team Triple Crown winners, as they won the tag titles on Raw, SmackDown, and NXT. They were one of the top teams during their time in NXT while Triple H was running the brand. The duo struggled to find consistent success on the main roster, though they were three-time tag team champions across Raw and SmackDown. They requested their releases, and WWE eventually let them go in 2021. Harwood and Wheeler then signed with AEW in May 2020, and they have been with the company ever since.
Triple H was the subject of the newest episode of FTR with Dax Harwood podcast, and Dax first pointed out that the former world champion is a divisive figure as a wrestler. He then highlighted the way "The Game" changed the trajectory of his career and Wheeler's career. He noted that Triple H was a boss and a mentor before he stated that he and Wheeler were never Hunter's guys.
“We’ve all heard about Hunter as a wrestler, and everyone can formulate an opinion of what they think of him as a wrestler and what he’s done in the business. But he’s someone who changed the trajectory of my career and Cash’s career, and he did it by being a boss first, being a mentor second. I’ve said it before, we were never Hunter guys, and I will hold to that until the day we retire. But we were not Hunter guys," Harwood said.
Co-host Matt Koon asked if Harwood meant they never considered themselves among Triple H’s favorites. Harwood clarified that he thinks he and Wheeler were some of Triple H's favorites in terms of skill and talent, but they weren't guys that he wanted to build the company around. Harwood noted that he believes Triple H was a fan of their work, and he viewed them as a piece of the puzzle, but not the whole thing.
“Right, yes. No, let me put a little correction on that. Not one of his favorites. I do believe that we were one of his favorites skill-wise, talent-wise, I think we were. But we weren’t one of the guys I think he wanted to build the company around or the brand around. I think he understood what we offered. I think I he understood how good we were in the ring, the stories we could tell, and I think he knew that we could be a piece to the puzzle, but I don’t think he wanted us to be the whole puzzle. He loved Gargano and he loved Ciampa, he loved those guys. Loved Fergal [Finn Balor], and those were his guys. So when I say we weren’t his guys, it’s not that he wasn’t a fan of ours, or we weren’t any of his favorite in-ring guys. It’s just, we weren’t the guys that I think he wanted to build the company around. Like I said before, Ciampa had [his number]. We were out for a couple of weeks, both of us got injured. I had surgery, and Ciampa was a little banged up, and Hunter would call or text him and ask, ‘How are things going?’ I had surgery and I’m sitting at home, and I’m trying to rush back because we’ve gotta come back to drop the belts to Gargano and Ciampa, and I heard nothing. So we weren’t Hunter guys. I don’t hold any ill feelings towards him because of that. We just weren’t. But I do think that he was a fan of our work. I know he was, he told us. I think that he was a fan of us as talents, just not who he necessarily wanted to build the company around," Harwood said.
When asked whether if they could have takes to him when they were frustrated in WWE, Harwood stated that they did, but it didn't change anything. He repeated that he and Wheeler weren't Triple H guys like Kevin Owens and Finn Balor.
“Yeah, we could, and we did. But he didn’t change anything for us. Again, we weren’t a Kevin Owens to him. We weren’t a Fergal Devitt to him. I don’t blame him for this, but this when I did realize [that]. Going into it, I thought we were Hunter guys, but this is where our frustration started to mount on the main roster, this is when I realized, ‘Oh, okay. We weren’t his guys," Harwood said.
When Koon questioned whether they felt that Triple H didn’t have their back, Harwood described how he thought that he did personally, but he would only stand up and fight for his guys. He described how he could imagine that Triple H felt like he couldn't fight for everyone, as that would have made Vince McMahon think he was just trying to get his guys over. Harwood also stated that the way they were treated at Raw 25 showed him that he and Wheeler weren't Triple H's guys.
“No. I mean, I’m sure he did have our back personally, but he was going to put his foot forward for his guys. Imagine if he fought for everybody. Imagine if he fought for Joe, Fergal, Kevin Owens, Ciampa, Gargano, and us, and Nakamura. He knows Vince. It’s gonna be to the point where Vince is like, ‘Oh, he’s just trying to get his guys over.’ That’s when we realized we weren’t his guys. We were bit players. We were good bit players, but we were bit players on his brand. But I remember, after the Raw 25 thing, I remember, like I said, I was so upset. Not even mad. I was just so distraught because that was the realization I had, like okay, we’re not his guys. That’s when it all hit me," Harwood said.
At Raw 25, Harwood and Wheeler lost to Luke Gallow and Karl Anderson before they took finishers from the members of D-Generation X and Balor Club, and he previously noted that they started losing faith in WWE at this point.
Harwood then noted that they talked to Triple H after Raw 25, hoping that there would be a follow-up or continuation of the feud with Finn Balor and the Good Brothers, but Triple H told them he didn't think that was the case.
Following Raw 25, Harwood noted that he and Wheeler tried to move forward and get some traction going, and they had some stop-start momentum. He emphasized that Raw 25 was a pivotal experience because it showed him and Wheeler that McMahon wasn't on their side, and Triple H wasn't either. At the very least, they realized that Triple H wouldn't have fought for them.
“We continued to try to move forward and put on incredible house show matches so we could at least get some kind of traction going, and we did. We’d have some start-stop traction, but I think it all ties back to that Raw 25 experience, understanding we didn’t have Vince on our side, and the guy that we thought was on our side wasn’t. Not that he wasn’t because I’m sure he was, [but] not to the point that he would have fought for us. When the boss man is not on your side and the guy right under the boss man isn’t going to fight for you, then it makes things way more difficult," Harwood said.
Harwood then recalled how he and Wheeler go their release, and he subsequently reached out to Triple H to express his gratitude. He stated that he told Triple H he hoped they could work together again eventually, and the latter sent him a message that he still has saved on his phone.
“I did send Hunter a text maybe a week later, two weeks later, something like that. I just told him I appreciate everything he did for me, my family, and I hope we can work together eventually. He sent me a very nice text back that I still have saved in my phone. So that was our last conversation we had together," Harwood said.
Harwood recently stated that FTR has decided what they're going to do once April 2023 begins, and they will let the fans know soon. More information is available here.
Click here to see what Harwood had to say about Vince McMahon's return to WWE.
On the March 22 episode of AEW Dynamite, FTR said they would quit AEW if they failed to beat The Gunns (Austin & Colten Gunn) for the AEW World Tag Team Championship. More information is available here.
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