FTR on Why Their Third Match With Young Bucks Isn't Happening at All Out
FTR's Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler are currently riding high as the IWGP, AAA and Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions. It seemed like AEW was building to a match between the "Top Guys" and The Young Bucks at All Out earlier this summer as the Bucks won the AEW World Tag Team Championships for a second time and their career record against Harwood and Wheeler was tied at 1-1. A rubber match with all four of those tag titles on the line seemed like a no-brainer, especially when FTR was bumped up to the No. 1 ranking in the tag division. But with Kenny Omega finally ready to return to the ring the Bucks dropped the tag titles to Swerve in Our Glory then realigned with Omega to compete in the AEW World Trios Championship Tournament.
Meanwhile, FTR was pushed somewhat into the background as they haven't wrestled as a tag team on AEW programming since Forbidden Door. They're booked for Sunday's All Out pay-per-view in a match involving Impact's Motor City Machine Guns, but it's a six-man tag match also featuring Wardlow and Jay Lethal.
Harwood and Wheeler spoke with Give Me Sport this week and admitted they thought FTR vs. Young Bucks III was happening at All Out. But they maintained they're happy with the match they've been given.
"I'm very happy with this match Sunday that we're going to have. But I thought that was the direction to go, us versus The Young Bucks for all the marbles, as they say. I think the way things lined up kind of naturally. There was no plan in place, but like a lot of things happen that changed the title scene, like our babyface turn. Was it something that we had thought about like a planned far out in advance? No," Wheeler said. "So when it started happening, we're just kind of riding the wave with it, trying to figure it out as we go. So like the fact that it was kind of all culminating at the same time, and leading to what I thought would have been the perfect build to it, because it was just, you know, all these outside forces kind of setting it up, for what would have been a huge money match for as far as tag team wrestling goes. But I understand there's a lot of injuries that happened. There's a lot of moving parts in the wrestling business. And it's not easy kind of getting everything to go."
"But no, we weren't told far out that it wasn't happening. I wish you know, everything could have worked out the way we envisioned, but again, I'm very happy with how Sunday's one is set up right now, and the potential of what it leads to afterwards with Motor City. So I'm very happy right now, but I wish we could have had that match, yeah," he added.
Harwood followed up by saying, "I think we expected that. As performers and individuals, and a tag team, we thought that was the right way to go. I think it could have been at least built as the biggest tag team match of all time. Four World Championships on the line, the two best tag teams of a generation going two-one-two at a big pay-per-view in Chicago. It could have been billed as the biggest tag match of all time. I think our problem was, we just expected that to happen. We expected how hot we've gotten, and how much heat those guys were getting. I mean, they were chanting FTR during that promo, you know, just a few weeks ago, which could have got us a little trouble... Even though we didn't get the tag team match with The Young Bucks, regardless of how we feel about them personally, you always want to work with a team that's as talented as them. A team that you know is going to produce a money match.
"Now on live pay-per-view, we get to team with one of our very, very good friends, Wardlow and we get to work with someone like Cash said is as effortlessly talented as Jay Lethal," he continued. "And on top of that, we get to work with guys that we've looked to work with for years, and years, and years in the Motor City Machine Guns. So even though we didn't get what we expected or what we thought was going to happen, this is a hell of a consolation prize."