AEW’s Dax Harwood has opened up about some of the issues that he experienced during his tenure with WWE.
Signing with WWE in 2012, Harwood would spend time in NXT, Raw, and SmackDown, and would hold tag gold on each brand with Cash Wheeler.
In 2020, the pair once known as The Revival were granted their requested releases from WWE, and would debut for AEW in May of that year.
Superstar Attributes
Standing at five-foot-ten and tipping the scales at 223lbs, Harwood isn’t what your non-wrestling fan would consider a prototypical WWE Superstar.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated this week, Harwood opened up about his size and was well aware that he didn’t fit WWE’s mold of their usual top star.
“We weren’t blessed with superstar attributes. Look at Hulk Hogan and then look at Dax Harwood, and you see the obvious differences.”
Dax Harwood.
Despite this, WWE has had some smaller stars reach the top of the card, including Shawn Michaels (at the time the smallest World Champion,) CM Punk, and Daniel Bryan.
Backstage Issues
In the years since his WWE exit, Harwood has spoken openly about his difficulties adjusting to the main roster, after an impressive run in WWE NXT.
In the interview, Harwood said how issues affected every part of his run, right down to the verbiage he used on TV.
“There were battles backstage in WWE. I’ve been handed a script where my verbiage was, ‘I’m going to take the tracker down yonder.’ That’s not how I speak. I have two degrees, one in business communication and one in English, ones that I paid for myself.
“I had to fight for that verbiage to be taken away. If I hadn’t, I never would have reached the success I have.”
FTR’s final nail in the coffin was when they were pitched ‘Flava Flav-inspired redesigns by Vince McMahon, and the tag-team left shortly after.
