Dax Harwood has spoken about the heat he got over his podcast about CM Punk. and detailed his reasons behind starting his infamous podcast.
The AEW Tag Team Champion didn’t think he’d get on with CM Punk at first, but the two men became best friends soon after meeting.
FTR teamed together with Punk on multiple occasions in AEW, including on CM Punk’s return match on AEW Collision in 2023.
He felt he was being misrepresented by the dirt sheets, and wanted to give his view on what CM Punk was like behind the scenes.
Speaking in an interview with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, Dax Harwood said:
“I think there have been more stories, uh, since my podcast about me than my whole 19-year career as a professional wrestler, dude. Uh, you know, like I said, I knew they were gonna ruffle feathers, uh, that I was gonna talk, especially coming out of the gate with the CM Punk podcast.”
“Um, and the reason I wanted to do the CM Punk episode was because I wanted to, I feel like there were journalists who were uh, painting him in a certain picture, because they’re painting him in a certain light.”
“Because if you look at CM Punk’s career, um, he has always gone against the grain and stood up for himself and stood up for what he believes in. And I’ve said it before, um, I didn’t think he and I were going to be friends at all. I thought we’re going to hate each other.”
“The story I’ve told is, you know, cash and I’ll know whenever we were going to meet Punk for the first time in AEW. I told cash I said, If he comes to me and tells me that I’m not dressed the part, like I’m not wearing a suit to TV, we’re gonna have a problem.’ “
“And I thought, you know, I thought we were just gonna clash because honestly, we’re so much alike. But, dude, uh, we became the best of friends. And, um, he’s a very passionate human being.”
“And I wanted that first episode to be about him because I wanted everyone to know what my truth was. And I wanted everyone to know that it happens, and it happened.”
“And I hated that he was getting the reputation, the reputation that he was getting. But I wanted them to know, uh, that we needed CM Punk and we needed the Young Bucks and we needed Kenny Omega. We need them in AEW. We need them to survive, excuse me, uh, because right now, we’re the second-largest wrestling company in the world.”
“You know, and with those entities, and with those entities working together, dude, and then, you know, thankfully throw my dumb ass and cash in there, uh, it’s a recipe for something that could be really, really, really good.”
“And so I just wanted to, uh, let everybody know that happens, fights happen, and, uh, you know, no one is at fault. Uh, not, excuse me, not one person is at fault. Sure, everyone is. And, uh, that’s how it should be. Everyone should have had filmed the exact same slate, you know.”
“Um, so, yes, I’ve got heat for that. Uh, you know, I’ve had some co-workers go to the dirt sheets and, uh, tell the dirt sheets what they think, and they weren’t very happy with me. “
“But that’s okay because, uh, the people that reached out to me, that have reached out to me and continued to reach out to me from AEW and from WWE, tell me how much they enjoy the work of the podcast, how much they enjoy hearing my passion, how much they enjoy hearing me break down the psychology and what I think going into this, going into a match or something.”
“Um, so, the ones that are there, there are a few loud people, uh, and they’re loud undercover. But the people who are, who love it, uh, they’re way more people like that than there are the people who don’t love it.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Fightful with a H/T to Atletifo for the transcription.