FTR Have LOST Their Last Set Of Tag Team Titles At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17
AEW Vs. WWE bidding war to intensify...?
At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17, FTR lost the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles to the Bishamon unit of Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi in a hard-hitting and well-received affair.
After reigning with three sets of titles as part of an international belt collector gimmick throughout much of 2022, they no longer hold any gold - which will obviously intensify rumours of their departure from All Elite Wrestling in the near-future. Dax Harwood, when speaking to Fightful in December 2022, expressed his "belief" that his contract (and the separate contract signed by partner Cash Wheeler) is up in April of this year.
The timing is certainly suspect, but is this by design?
FTR are currently on an arc in AEW in which their "legacy" is in doubt. This is the thrust of their (ongoing?) programme with the Gunns. If they were WWE-bound, this match result is the expected order of business, but perhaps there's a meta approach at work here, one that might lead to a "last chance" match of sorts versus the Acclaimed at Revolution. AEW has employed this device previously at Full Gear 2019 and Full Gear 2020.
Time will tell, and time may well be up in a few short months.