FTR was a very successful tag team in WWE as The Revival. However, they could have had an even better storyline if they joined forces with Randy Orton and that union carried on as FTRKO. FTR with RKO was a force to be reckoned with. Sadly, Randy’s departure to RAW saw this team-up dissolve into nothing.
Dax Harwood addressed refusing to do an angle with Randy Orton in a recent episode of the “FTR with Harwood” podcast. Harwood and Cash Wheeler just came in from the global tour just in time to receive a call from the management. WWE travel services needed them to beat down Orton on RAW for a storyline.
“We were called by the WWE travel services to tell us that we were needed for ‘Raw’ and we lost it. We said, ‘absolutely not.’ They said, ‘Well, right now, the creative [plans are] you guys are coming in and are going to attack Randy, and then ‘NXT’ is going to come in and jump you guys and beat you down.’ We said, ‘No, absolutely not. We’re not coming in to do that.'”
WWE wanted FTR to crash Orton’s match and beat him down only to be taken out by “NXT” later that evening. Dax and Cash furiously rejected the propositions made by the WWE’s top management. The disagreement caused Paul Heyman to call them to settle the situation.
Paul Heyman explained everything in detail as to why them turning on Randy Orton was crucial for the future. However, a frustrated Harwood told the creative plans by the WWE travel team to consider a different path. Heyman apparently agreed to re-work the plans after talking to Vince McMahon.
With their five Tag Team Championship reigns, FTR was one of WWE’s most impressive teams. The pair established themselves by doing it all on “WWE Raw,” “WWE NXT,” and “WWE SmackDown.” They got the last of these from The New Day at Clash in 2019 with Randy Orton.
Even if it was for a storyline, the refusal from FTR has definitely got something to do with their personal feelings about Orton. We can only imagine how things would be if they acted according to WWE in the past.
What are your thoughts on the story? Let us know in the comments.