FTR's Dax Harwood to Miss Considerable Time with Serious Back Injury

Dax Harwood of FTR made the following announcement via Twitter/X…

“What’s up, you all? Sometimes social media can be a harsh place. I know there’s a lot of people, especially in the Twitter world, that don’t really care for me too much, and that’s okay. But I thought this was the best way that I could talk to the fans of AEW and the fans of FTR and finally get this off of my chest. First of all, before I go any further, I want to apologize to my boss. I want to apologize to the front staff in AEW. I want to apologize, probably more than anything. I want to apologize to the medical staff, too, because I should have been up front. I should have been truthful about some things that’s been going on with me over the last couple of months, and I didn’t because I thought I could tough it out. At the Double or Nothing Pay-per-view in the ladder match with the Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championships, I gave Matt Jackson a pile driver through the 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 off of the road. And after this weekend, after this match with the Blackpool Combat Club, 20 Minute Draw, incredible match, one of my favorite matches I’ve had in AEW, I got to the back and I put some ice on my lower back, and the hematoma blew up to the size of the football, at the very least, the size of a football. And with that and with the pain, the pain, I’ve debated on whether saying this and whether explaining this, because I don’t want anybody to think I’m trying to get sympathy. But the pain has been at the very, very, very minimum – the pain has been excruciating over the last few months. I haven’t wanted to tell anybody because I didn’t want, like I said, I didn’t want FTR to be taken off of television. I didn’t want us to be taken off the road. Maybe selfishly, maybe a little egotistically, I felt that we were an important part to AEW, to Dynamite, and obviously, more importantly, to Collision, which has been our home for the last year.

But today I had to get an X-ray on my lower back, on my pelvis, and they had to take a look at this hematoma. When I finally explained this to Doc Samson and the whole medical team, when I explained to them what I’ve been hiding for the last two months, Doc Samson immediately took me off of the road. He said, ‘You’ve got to rest it up. If you don’t, it could get worse and it could lead to possible retirement.’ And obviously, I don’t want that. So going forward, I got to be truthful with you guys. I got to be truthful with my bosses. I got to be truthful with the medical staff. And I don’t know how long this is going to last. I don’t know how long we’re going to have to be off. But unfortunately, and 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 night, the the sleepless night have been catching up with me because I cannot get a comfortable position even in my bed.

So you got to think, if I can’t get a comfortable position in my bed, imagine the plane rides or the top rope superplexes and all this stupid shit that I do at almost 40 years old. But I hope you know, and I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of people that give me some grief for it, but I hope you know all this is for the love of the game and it’s for the love of all you fans. Again, I’m not sure how long 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 is the legacy. Obviously, I know I get flag for the legacy of FTR, and I never wanted it to go away. Thank you guys for everything. Thank you to my work, to my bosses, to everyone who didn’t give me any shit 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 in the next couple of months, couple of years, I’d be a crippled man, and I can’t thank them enough.

So Doc Samson, the whole medical team, even my boss, man, Tony Khan, who had no idea about this, and I hope he’s okay with this. Thank you guys for everything, and I hope to see everybody soon. Top guys, out.”