Dax Harwood: Rated FTR Will Take Fans On 'One Hell Of A Ride'

01/01/2025 01:44 PM

Dax Harwood is ready for Rated FTR to show out in their hometown on Wednesday night.

Harwood will team with Cash Wheeler and Adam Copeland as "Rated FTR" at AEW Dynamite: Fight For The Fallen. The event takes place in Asheville, North Carolina, the Western North Carolina town that the trio calls home. Harwood spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about getting the chance to "make friends and money" instead of choosing one. Harwood will fight alongside his friends in his hometown, which he joked is familiar territory.

"It reminds me of my college years," Harwood said with a laugh.

Harwood first saw Copeland step back in a ring when he and Cash were helping Beth Phoenix and Natalya learn tag team wrestling for their match at WrestleMania 35. Copeland came to training to support Phoenix, his wife, and ended up getting in the ring to try a few things out.

"When it was just a thought in his brain that he wanted to come back to wrestling or try to come back to wrestling, Cash and I had no idea, we had no clue [he wanted to return]," Harwood said.

About 18 months later, Copeland told FTR that he was seriously considering a return to the ring, and had a wrestling ring near his home to resume training. After his return at the 2020 Royal Rumble, Copeland entered a feud with Randy Orton. This run included the "Greatest Wrestling Match Ever" at Backlash, which FTR helped them train for. Despite having that relationship in WWE, FTR and Copeland never worked together on-screen until they reunited in AEW.

"There have been a lot of intersections with FTR and Adam Copeland personally and professionally. But we’ve never done it in front of the camera," Harwood said. "This is the first time we’re gonna be able to exploit our friendship, but also, our love for wrestling and our love for Asheville."

Rated FTR has been in the works for quite some time

FTR has been part of several notable alliances, including FTRKO with Orton and CMFTR with CM Punk. The alliance with Copeland feels a bit more of a viable group than others. The group has plans to continue working together past their trios match against the Death Riders at Fight For The Fallen.

"Oh no, we’ve been talking about this before he came to AEW, when it was a thought of him coming to AEW. And like you said, we have been part of a lot of groups. I was actually thinking about this today, the funny part is we get a lot of flack online, that we "latch on" to these people or whatever.

"But the crazy part to me is, even going back to uh uh FTRKO, do you think that especially in the position we were there, do you think it was Cash and myself that went to Vince [McMahon] and said, 'Hey, put us with Randy, okay?' It was Randy that said, 'I would like to be with these guys.' Same thing with CMFTR. Do you think, even though we were doing well in AEW, do you think it was us that went to Tony and said, 'Hey, make sure you put us with Punk?' Or was it Punk that said, 'Hey, I wanna be with these guys. I want to have a match with Dax Harwood. I want to team up with you guys."

Rated FTR all share the same goals and love of pro wrestling

Harwood said the same is true for working with Copeland, who lives minutes away from him. He noted that their respective runs with Orton and Punk were cut short by different variables, but he sees a brighter and more sustainable future for Rated FTR.

"His daughters are friends with my daughter. Me, Adam and Cash have been friends for well over 10 years. We have a wrestling school together, we call and talk to each other every single day and we’re very like-minded, even outside the business," Harwood explained. "Like Adam said, goal-oriented, but also family-oriented. We put our families above anything else, but in wrestling, this was our first love, all three.

"Wrestling was our first love. Hulk Hogan drew Adam to the business. [Steve Austin] drew Cash to the business. And obviously, I’ve made it pretty well known Bret Hart drew me to the business. This was our first love and our first passion and I’ll never forget that. I’m sure they won’t either. So we’re very, very like-minded," Harwood added. "I know it’s gonna be a hell of a ride."

Dax Harwood highlights the best part of Asheville

AEW chose Asheville as the location for this year’s Fight For The Fallen event to help with disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Helene. Harwood has many things he loves about the area but touted the people as one of the most welcoming aspects of living in the region. The familial aspect came into focus even more after Helene’s destruction. It’s also why FTR and Copeland wanted to do something wrestling-related to add some positivity to a negative situation.

"I think that’s the best part of Asheville, especially after this storm. So many people came together just to help each other out. Initially, there wasn’t a ton of aid that was coming into Asheville," Harwood explained. "We had to hunker down all of us and we all had to fight and we all had to work together to clean this place up and try to make some sort of light out of the negative situation.

Harwood and Copeland initially wanted to run a house show in Asheville. However, Tony Khan suggested running a television taping instead. Harwood said Asheville was not the original plan for AEW’s "Mother Of All Simulcasts" on TBS and Max. He credited Khan for thinking of Asheville’s residents first instead of going to a bigger city.

Dax Harwood plans on hitting a home run in Asheville

AEW is working with local charities and Khan is donating a significant amount of money to help Western North Carolina. Fans who buy a ticket can also contribute, as a portion of the proceeds will be donated to local charities.

"And that’s what we’re trying to do, is help to support that and bring our brand of professional wrestling to Asheville, North Carolina for the first time ever," Harwood said. "[We’re bringing] pro wrestling back to Asheville for the first time in over five years. It feels good to be part of something and work for someone who who puts who puts this above a buck."

Fight For The Fallen will feature a loaded match card, and the simulcast on Max adds more pressure. Harwood remained optimistic and said this is a position they are used to, and Wednesday is just another chance to show what AEW can do.

"January 1, not only because it’s the first ever final simulcast on TBS and Max, not only because it’s the first ever time AEW is in Asheville, but because we have to knock it out of the park," Harwood explained. "We’ve made this such a big deal. AEW has to knock it out of the park. Because there’s one thing AEW’s done is when the chips are stacked against us and we have hyped ourselves up, we do knock it out of the park. That’s my plan for January 1."

Visit AEW Together to make a donation to local charities and learn more information about how you can help those affected by Hurricane Helene in Asheville.

AEW Dynamite: Fight For The Fallen airs live via simulcast on TBS and Max starting at 8 pm EST. Watch our full interview with FTR’s Dax Harwood below:

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