AEW’s Dax Harwood of FTR has confirmed that he has suffered a serious injury that will see him sidelined for the foreseeable future.
Harwood revealed that he injured his back at AEW Dynasty on April 21 in the AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament Final Ladder match against The Young Bucks.
In a video shared on Twitter (that can be seen below this news story), Harwood spoke at length about his current situation, saying:
“First of all before I go any further I want to apologise to my boss, I want to apologise to the front staff in AEW. I wanna apologise, probably more than anything, to the medical staff too because I should have been upfront I should have been truthful about some things that have been going on with me over the past couple of months but I didn’t because I thought I could tough it out.
“At the Dynasty pay-per-view, in the ladder match with The Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Champions, I gave Matt Jackson a piledriver through a ladder and when I landed it messed my lower back up really, really bad and caused a severe hematoma that appeared on my lower back, which as we know that’s where the brunt of the bumps go for a professional wrestler.
I thought I could tough through it. I felt that FTR was on a momentum high there and I wanted to not take myself and Cash [Wheeler] off the road.
“After this weekend, after the match with Blackpool Combat Club, 20 minute draw, incredible match, one my favorite matches I’ve had in AEW. I got to the back and put some ice on my lower back and the hematoma blew up to the size of a football, at the very least the size of a football.
With that and with the pain… I debated on whether saying this and whether explaining this because I don’t want people to think I’m trying to get sympathy but the pain has been at the very, very, very minimum excruciating over the last few months.
“I haven’t wanted to tell anybody because I didn’t want FTR to be taken off of television, off the road. Maybe selfishly, maybe a little egotistically I felt we were an important part to AEW, to Dynamite and most importantly to Collision which has been our home for the last year.
“But today I had to get an X-Ray, on my pelvis and when I finally explained this Saturday to Doc Sampson and the whole medical team, who was incredible and their only objective is to take care of this talent, when I explained to them what I had been hiding over the last two months Doc Sampson immediately took me off the road, he said “you’ve got to rest it up and if you don’t it could get worse, it could lead to possible retirement” and obviously I don’t want that.
“So, going forward I gotta be truthful with you guys, I gotta be truthful with my bosses, I gotta be truthful with the medical staff. And I don’t know how long this is gonna last and I don’t know long I’m gonna have to be off but unfortunately – maybe fortunately for some of you people that don’t like FTR – myself and Cash will not be on television for a while, I have to rest this thing up.
“The sleepless nights have been catching up with me because I cannot get a comfortable position even in my bed, so you gotta think if I can’t get a comfortable position in my bed imagine the plane rides and the top rope super-plexes and all the stupid sh*t that I do at almost 40-years-old.
“But I hope you know, and I’m sure there will be people that give me some grief for it but I hope you know all this is for the love of the game and for the love of all you fans. Again I’m not sure how long [until] we’ll be back, I hope it’s sooner than later, but I hope when we come back, we can come back better than ever.
“My number one priority in this profession, obviously I know I get flack for it, is the legacy of FTR and I never want that to go away. Thank you guys for everything, thank you to my work, to my bosses, to everyone who didn’t give me any sh*t for lying to them and taking the steps needed that I wouldn’t take to take care of my body. Because without them, I’m sure the next couple of months, couple of years I’d be a crippled man and I can’t thank them enough.
“So Doc Sampson, the medical team, even my boss man Tony Khan – who had no idea about this – I hope he’s ok with this, thank you for everything and I hope to see you soon. Top guys out.”
The June 8 episode of AEW Collision saw Claudio Castagnoli and Wheeler Yuta take on FTR in a match that would go to its time limit, with highlights below this news story.
JJA Sport Studio wishes Dax Harwood well in his recovery from this injury.
An explanation that I feel I owe everyone. The fans, my boss, the medical team, and the whole roster.
— Uncle Dax FTR (@DaxFTR) June 11, 2024
I appreciate you all, and I hope to see you soon.
Top Guys, out. pic.twitter.com/p0Ivo61491
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