If there’s one thing that has actually been very entertaining throughout AEW’s 2300 Arena residency, it’s the level of heat that FTR have gotten from the fans. Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood must have been studying their Dudley Boyz tapes, because every time they arrive in the former ECW Arena, they get in the fans faces in the same way that Buh Buh Ray and D-Von would in the 1990s. It has been very fun to see, as have their matches on “AEW Collision” that have featured the current DPW Worlds Champion Adam Priest, and all of the build towards their match against Adam Copeland and Christian Cage for All Out. However, something was missing in their segment this week, and that was a point to all of it.
FTR came out on this week’s episode of “AEW Dynamite,” got into it with the fans on the way down the ramp, tried to cut a promo with Stokely Hathaway, and then just started confronting the fans again before assaulting the cameramen and leaving. That was it, that was the whole segment.
For me this segment came across as AEW just wanting to capitalize on FTR being so hated right now without actually having any reason to be on the show. There was no mention of their upcoming rematch against the team of Adam Priest and Tommy Billington on “Collision,” Copeland and Cage weren’t even in the building for them to have another showdown with (which would have been a bit long in the tooth anyway considering they’ve already done that angle twice now), and the whole thing just seemed a bit unnecessary.
I understand the desire to push their match at All Out, considering it will be the first time since 2001 that Copeland and Cage have teamed up in Canada, but FTR literally have a match this weekend, use that segment to push the match, and maybe allow something that needs more work to get a spotlight here. We all know that there are going to be more matches added to All Out between now and September 20, so why not shine a light on one of those potential bouts here instead of having Dax and Cash squaring up to people? “What are you going to do about it? You’re going to do nothing, you coward!” Yes, and you’re not going to do anything either, Dax, because if you did, you’ll either get sued, fired, or both, so just give it a rest.
Like I said, I’ve enjoyed FTR’s work over the 2300 Arena residency, but this whole segment was pointless. There was no new wrinkle to their feud with Copeland and Cage, and it kind of took away precious time for other stories to be told. Plus, if FTR tried to start something with me, I could just tell them that was I was also featured on “Dynamite” this week (my tweet about Riho got shown on screen), and they’ll probably just leave me alone out of respect.
Written by Sam Palmer
