FTR Wanted To Work With Stokely Hathaway For Years, Talk What He Brings To Them As a Team

FTR are aligned with Stokely Hathaway in AEW, and they recently spoke about how they wanted to work with the manager for years dating back to WWE. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler aligned with Hathaway after they turned heel in April. Since then they’ve found their way back to the top of AEW, winning the AEW World Tag Team Titles at Full Gear.

The two spoke on the Battleground Podcast ahead of Full Gear about their alliance with Hathaway and more. You can see highlights below:

Harwood On Wanting to Work With Hathaway For Years:

“You said that we don’t need him and that is that is true to an extent. But you know, I also don’t think that he necessarily needs us either, just because he’s such a talented human being. I mean, not even in front of the camera, but behind the camera as well. He’s just as charismatic and just as funny. I think he knows who he is.

But we had pitched an idea back in 2019, end of 2019 [to] the beginning of 2020 to have him as our manager. And it just didn’t pan out. And then fast-forward to the beginning of 2022. We had gotten rid of Tully and there was a guy who was his contract was coming up, and his name was Malcolm Bivens at the time. And I told Tony that I think he’d be a great guy for us to work with. And that was the plan when we brought him in, but fate just had it that the fans took a liking to us for whatever reason. And we spent the better part of three years on the opposite side of the coin with Stokely.”

Harwood On Their Dynamic With Hathaway:

“Now I think that he brings a whole different uh coat of paint to to what FTR is, what they have been, what they’ve represented for so long. I also think that we are able to feed off of his charisma and the energy that he brings.

“And I think that this run that we’ve had so far is probably one of our most — to me at least is one of my uh most fun runs that we’ve had. Because we’ve been exploring a much deeper character within ourselves and that’s thanks in part to Stokeley.”

Wheeler On What Hathaway Brings To the Team:

“He’s such a talented individual, and he’s so so multifaceted in that dynamic. Like the fact that he can be funny, he can be serious. He knows when to involve himself or interject, he knows when to tone it down. He doesn’t take away from what you’re trying to do.

“I think his understanding of wrestling as a whole is what’s helped make this work so well for us. Because he knows when it’s time for him to to be him and turn it on, and do what he does. And he knows when it’s time to let us do what we do. We also all know when it’s time for us all to get on the same page, work together. ‘Hey, Stoke, we need you to do this.’ And he’s there every time.”

Wheeler On Hathaway’s Knowledge Of His Role:

“He’s so reliable, he’s so good at it. Like, he understands it almost from a wrestler’s point of view, which is rare with a manager. But he’s he’s smart, and that makes a world of difference for us.

“And the fact that he is so entertaining, like it is fun for us, it makes this new for us. It’s something where like it’s listening to him talk about ‘getting no hoes. Like, it’s all over the place. I could not keep it together. Because his delivery was is so perfect, and he’s he’s so mad when he says it.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Battleground Podcast with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.