Jake Hager has issued a private apology to FTR after publicly accusing them of refusing to attend an AEW show over creative differences. The apology was revealed after Cash Wheeler posted a screenshot of a text message exchange with the former All Elite Wrestling star.
The controversy began during Hager’s recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, where he discussed a talent-only meeting that took place following the backstage issues with CM Punk. Hager claimed AEW President Tony Khan “stormed into the room” and yelled at the locker room because a team refused to come to TV that day. Hager then identified that team as FTR.
Dax Harwood quickly refuted the story on social media. He confirmed that both he and Wheeler were at the meeting, which was called by Bryan Danielson, Chris Jericho, and Jon Moxley, but stated that Tony Khan never interrupted. Harwood also denied that FTR had ever refused to show up to work, pointing to their consistent schedule across both of AEW’s weekly programs.
Following Harwood’s public denial, Cash Wheeler shared the text exchange that confirmed Hager’s retraction. In the message, Hager admitted fault, writing, “I apologize I shouldn’t have said your names especially when i didn’t know for sure.”
The conversation revealed Hager had initially tried to soften his public statement, texting, “I said I think it was you two… didn’t say it def was.” Wheeler responded by pointing out the damage the accusation caused, stating, “to say ‘I think’ and then actually say our names makes us look like assholes and it wasn’t even us. We’re assholes, but we show up for work.”