Cash Wheeler

Daniel Marshall Wheeler (born May 17, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Cash Wheeler, where he is a former two-time AEW World Tag Team Champions with Dax Harwood together they form FTR. As FTR, Wheeler and Harwood also wrestle for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), and appeared in AEW 's partner promotions Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where they held those promotions' respective tag team championships once each.

Wheeler was previously known for his time in WWE under the ring name Dash Wilder. In WWE, he and Harwood (then known as Scott Dawson) under the team name of The Revival held the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, as well as both the Raw Tag Team Championship and NXT Tag Team Championship twice, making them the first WWE Tag Team Triple Crown winners. They also jointly held the WWE 24/7 Championship.

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2005–2014)

Wheeler made his professional wrestling debut in 2005, wrestled extensively on the independent circuit under the ring name "Steven Walters". He most notably appeared for NWA Anarchy, where he won both the NWA Anarchy Television Championship and the NWA Anarchy Tag Team Championship, and for numerous other promotions such as OMEGA Championship Wrestling, Resistance Pro Wrestling and Dragon Gate USA. He also wrestled internationally for promotions such as All Star Wrestling, Preston City Wrestling, and Pro Wrestling ZERO1.

WWE (2014–2020)

Wheeler signed with WWE in 2014 and reported to the WWE Performance Center, taking the ring name Dash Wilder. Dusty Rhodes gave Wheeler the ring name, Dash Wilder; Wheeler wanted to call his character "Cash" instead of "Dash", but Rhodes preferred the latter because it reminded him of his son Cody's nickname, "Dashing", while Wilder was chosen due to its similarity to Wheeler. He immediately formed a tag-team with Scott Dawson, with the two performing extensively at live events under the name The Mechanics. The duo made their debut on the July 17, 2014 episode of '' NXT'', losing to Bull Dempsey and Mojo Rawley. The duo made only one further televised appearance in 2014, losing to Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady on the October 23 episode of ''NXT'', but continued to wrestle extensively at house shows.

Dawson and Wilder's team resurfaced and picked up their first televised win on the July 29, 2015 episode of ''NXT'', defeating Amore and Cassady. The duo were involved in an 8-man tag-team match that was taped prior to NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn. At NXT TakeOver: Respect, Dawson and Wilder were defeated in the semi-finals of the ''Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic'' by eventual winners Samoa Joe and Finn Bálor. On the October 21 episode of ''NXT'', The Mechanics' ring name was changed to Dash and Dawson. The duo would go on win the NXT Tag Team Championship from The Vaudevillains on the November 11 episode of ''NXT''. They subsequently defended the titles against Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady at NXT TakeOver: London. Beginning in February 2016, the duo began performing under the team name The Revival. The two made their main roster debuts on March 12, 2016, at Roadblock, again successfully defending their championships against Amore and Cassady.

On April 1 at NXT TakeOver: Dallas, The Revival lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to American Alpha (Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) but the two won back the titles from American Alpha two months later at NXT TakeOver: The End. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II, The Revival retained the titles against Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa. In a rematch at NXT Takeover: Toronto, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano won the NXT Tag Team Championship in a 2 out of 3 falls match. At NXT TakeOver: Orlando, Wilder and Dawson lost to The Authors of Pain in a triple threat match for the NXT Tag Team Championship, also involving DIY.

On the April 3 episode of '' Raw'', The Revival answered an open challenge issued by The New Day. The Revival would defeat The New Day, and afterwards attacked Kofi Kingston, who was not participating in the match. On April 14, Dash Wilder fractured his jaw during an NXT match in Spartanburg, South Carolina against Hideo Itami and Shinsuke Nakamura which required surgery and would keep him out of action for eight weeks. Wilder returned to in ring competition on the June 26 taping of ''Main Event'' aired on June 30, teaming with Dawson to defeat Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows by pinfall. On the June 25, 2018 episode of Raw, Wilder pinned Roman Reigns in a tag team match. On SummerSlam pre-show, The Revival lost to The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) in an attempt to become the Raw Tag Team Champions. At Survivor Series, they were part of Team Raw, but lost to Team SmackDown in the 10-on-10 Survivor Series tag team elimination match.

Following this they began a feud against Lucha House Party ( Kalisto, Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado) and suffered various losses in handicap matches. On Raw, December 17, 2018, they defeated Lucha House Party, The B-Team and AOP in a Fatal 4-Way Match receiving a title shot for the Raw Tag Team Titles. During the next two Raw episodes they challenged Bobby Roode and Chad Gable for the titles but Dawson and Wilder were unsuccessful to win the matches in controversial fashion. Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer reported that the duo asked for their release from their WWE contracts following their match against Lucha House Party on the January 14, 2019 episode of ''Raw''. On February 11, 2019, episode of Raw, Dawson and Wilder defeated the team of Roode and Gable to win the Raw Tag Team Championships. At WrestleMania 35, The Revival lost the titles to the team of Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder.

On the August 12, 2019 during a scheduled tag team match at ''Raw'' (the episode post-SummerSlam) in which The Revival were facing Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik, with Kalisto), R-Truth ran out from backstage, being chased by several wrestlers. The match was called off and The Revival performed a "Hart Attack" on Truth and simultaneously pinned him to become the first co-champions of the 24/7 Championship. However, in the same night R-Truth pinned Dawson, with the help of Carmella, and regained the title.
The Revival began to align themselves with Randy Orton in a feud against The New Day. On September 15 at Clash of Champions, The Revival defeated Xavier Woods and Big E for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, making them the first team to hold the Raw Tag Team Championship, SmackDown Tag Team Championship, and NXT Tag Team Championship. The Revival was drafted to SmackDown as part of the 2019 WWE Draft. On April 10, 2020, both Wilder and his tag team partner Dawson were released from their WWE contracts.

All Elite Wrestling / Ring of Honor (2020–present)

On the May 27, 2020 episode of ''Dynamite'', Wheeler and Harwood made their All Elite Wrestling debut as FTR, saving The Young Bucks from an attack by The Butcher and The Blade thus establishing themselves as babyfaces in the process, ande began going by the ring names Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood. They made their in-ring debut on the June 10 episode of ''Dynamite'', where they defeated The Butcher and The Blade. During the following weeks, FTR had interactions with The Young Bucks and the AEW World Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page, including a match at Fyter Fest where FTR and The Young Bucks were defeated by The Lucha Bros and The Butcher and The Blade in an eight-man tag team match. In July 2020, after appearing on AEW television for two months without signing contracts, Harwood and Wheeler signed multi-year contracts with AEW.

On the August 12 episode of ''Dynamite'', FTR hosted Tag Team Appreciation Night where they invited Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard and The Rock 'n' Roll Express to the show. However, after a scuffle between Tully Blanchard and Ricky Morton, FTR attacked Rock 'n' Roll Express thus turning heel in the process. The following week, FTR recruited Blanchard as their manager as they defeated Private Party. On the August 27 episode of ''Dynamite'', FTR defeated The Natural Nightmares, Best Friends and The Young Bucks in a Gauntlet match to earn an AEW World Tag Team Championship match at All Out. At All Out, they defeated Omega and Page to capture the titles, making them the first team to have held tag team titles in both AEW and WWE.

On September 16, 2020, FTR defeated Jurassic Express members Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy in a non-title match following interference from Blanchard. On September 30, 2020, FTR successfully defended their tag team titles on ''Dynamite'' against SCU members Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky. On October 7, 2020, FTR retained their titles after defeating Hybrid2. On October 14, 2020, they again successfully defended their tag team titles, this time against Best Friends. On November 7, 2020 at Full Gear, FTR lost their titles to The Young Bucks in a match which saw manager Tully Blanchard banned from ringside.
On the March 10, 2021 episode of ''Dynamite'', FTR and Blanchard attacked The Inner Circle along with MJF, Wardlow, and Shawn Spears, with their new group being named The Pinnacle. On the October 16 special episode of ''Dynamite'', FTR - disguised as luchadors called Las Super Ranas (The Super Frogs) - defeated The Lucha Brothers to win the AAA World Tag Team Championship for the first time. After The Pinnacle dissolved FTR turned face, after siding with MJF's rival CM Punk.

FTR made a surprise appearance at Ring of Honor, ROH Final Battle (2021), Final Battle, attacking the newly-crowned ROH World Tag Team Championship, ROH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoe Brothers and setting up a match between the two teams, which took place at Supercard of Honor XV. FTR won the match and became ROH World Tag Team Champions for the first time, and with their AAA Tag Team Titles, became double champions. On June 26, 2022, FTR added the IWGP Tag Team Championship from New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) when they won a Three-way tag team match, Three-way Winner Takes All match, Winner Takes All tag team match against IWGP Champions United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb) and Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta) at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, making them triple champions (AAA, ROH, IWGP). At Death Before Dishonor (2022), Death Before Dishonor, FTR defended their ROH Tag Team Championships against The Briscoes, in a two out of three falls match. They made another successful defense in October at Battle of the Belts IV, defeating Gates of Agony. They made another successful defense defeating Top Flight (Darius Martin, Darius and Dante Martin) on the November 23rd edition of ‘’Rampage’’. On the December 7th edition of ‘’Dynamite’’, FTR faced The Acclaimed for the AEW World Tag Team Championships, but lost. This loss resulted in a losing streak for the duo as three days later at Final Battle (2022), Final Battle, FTR lost the ROH World Tag Team Championships to The Briscoes in a Dog Collar match, ending their reign at 253 days. After the match, FTR were attacked by rivals The Gunn Club, The Gunns, but were fended off by The Briscoes. On the December 22 edition of ''Dynamite'', FTR lost to The Gunns. Two weeks later, they lost the AAA World Tag Team Championship to Dralístico, Dralistico and Dragon Lee (wrestler), Dragon Lee at AAA Noche de Campeones, thus ending another title reign at 441 days.

FTR made their return since losing all of their titles, at AEW Revolution (2023), Revolution, confronting The Gunns, who had just retained their AEW World Tag Team Championships. On the following March 8 edition of ''Dynamite'', Harwood and Wheeler stated their intentions of capturing the AEW World Tag Team Championships. FTR confronted The Gunns on the March 22 edition of ''Dynamite'', seeking a title shot, but were continuously refused. The title match was finally granted upon Harwood's proposition that if he and Wheeler were to lose to The Gunns, they would quit AEW. The title match took place on the main event of the April 5 edition of ''Dynamite'', where FTR defeated The Gunns, capturing the AEW World Tag Team Championships for the second time. FTR would go on to successfully defend their titles against various teams such as Jay Lethal and Jeff Jarrett at Double or Nothing (2023), Double or Nothing, The Young Bucks at All In (2023), All In, and Aussie Open (professional wrestling), Aussie Open at WrestleDream (2023), WrestleDream. FTR lost the titles to Big Bill and Ricky Starks on the October 7 episode of ''AEW Collision, Collision,'' ending their second reign at 185 days.

Going into 2024, FTR would feud with Jon Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli of the Blackpool Combat Club, with Moxley and Castagnoli defeating FTR at the Revolution (2024), Revolution event in March. In April 2024, FTR would participate in a tournament to determine the next AEW World Tag Team Champions. They defeated The Infantry in the first round, Top Flight in the semi-finals, but lost to The Young Bucks in a ladder match in the finals at Dynasty (2024), Dynasty on April 21, due to interference from a returning Jack Perry. FTR would go to feud with The Young Bucks from the rest of the summer facing them in May at Double or Nothing (2024), Double or Nothing in an Anarchy in the Arena match, and in August at All In (2024), All In in a three-way tag team match for the tag titles, also involving The Acclaimed, both ended in defeat for FTR. In late 2024, FTR once again began feud with the Blackpool Combat Club, now known as the Death Riders. On December 28 at Worlds End (2024), Worlds End, FTR along with Adam Copeland, Cope appeared after the main event and took out the Death Riders. The trio of FTR and Cope were named "Rated FTR".

On April 6, 2025 at AEW Dynasty (2025), Dynasty, Rated FTR unsuccessfully challenged the Death Riders for the AEW World Trios Championship. After the match, FTR attacked Cope, turning heel in the process. On the April 23 episode of ''Dynamite'', Stokely Hathaway, Stokely was revealed as FTR's new manager. On May 25 at Double or Nothing (2025), Double or Nothing, FTR defeated Daniel Garcia (wrestler), Daniel Garcia and Nigel McGuinness.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2022–2023)

After winning the IWGP Tag Team Championships at AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door, FTR made their first appearance for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, at Music City Mayhem, where they teamed with Alex Zayne, in a losing effort to United Empire, United Empire's, Aussie Open (professional wrestling), Aussie Open and T. J. Perkins. After the match, Aussie Open challenged FTR to a match for the IWGP Tag Team Championships. FTR made their first IWGP Tag Team Championship defense on night one of Royal Quest II, defeating Aussie Open in the main event. On January 4, 2023 at Wrestle Kingdom 17, FTR lost the IWGP Tag Team Championships to Chaos (professional wrestling), Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI), ending their reign at 192 days.

Other media

Wilder made his video game debut as a playable character in ''WWE 2K17'', and has since appeared in ''WWE 2K18'', ''WWE 2K19'', WWE 2K20 and ''AEW Fight Forever, AEW Fight Forever.''

Personal life

Wheeler stated in a May 2020 interview that out of all his matches up to this point in time, his favorites were live event matches between The Revival and American Alpha during their NXT days. He stated that his favorite on-screen match was the match between the two teams at NXT TakeOver: Dallas, as, while he believed that the match between The Revival and DIY (professional wrestling), DIY at NXT TakeOver: Toronto (2016), NXT TakeOver: Toronto in 2016 was better, NXT TakeOver: Dallas had "a special magical atmosphere". In a November 2020 interview, Wheeler described FTR's upcoming match with The Young Bucks at Full Gear as a "dream match", and added: "Dream match label or not, I think Dax and I always put a lot of pressure on ourselves, to go out there and perform at the highest level and to be the best. So, the match with The Young Bucks notwithstanding, we always have a lot of pressure on our shoulders."

On August 18, 2023, Wheeler was arrested in Orange County, Florida, and charged with one count of aggravated assault with a firearm, a third-degree felony, after turning himself in when an arrest warrant was issued following an alleged road rage incident. He was released from custody shortly thereafter when he posted $2,500 bail. On May 14, 2024, the charge against Wheeler was dropped. Wheeler opened up about the arrest and the circumstances surrounding it in a September 2024 interview with Renee Paquette. He asserted his innocence, claiming police had no evidence of any kind, not physical evidence nor video of the alleged incident, just the complainant's accusation. He also stated he was adamant in telling his attorneys he would not accept a plea deal, despite facing a 5-year maximum prison sentence if convicted. Wheeler would also reveal he contemplated retirement following his arrest, not wanting to cast a dark cloud over Dax Harwood, nor give AEW bad publicity as a result of his criminal charge, but he was ultimately talked out of retiring by Harwood. Wheeler has since relocated from Florida back to his home state of North Carolina.

Championships and accomplishments

* All Elite Wrestling
** AEW World Tag Team Championship (AEW World Tag Team Championship#Reigns, 2 times) – with Dax Harwood
* Anarchy Wrestling
** NWA Anarchy Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Derrick Driver
** NWA Anarchy Television Championship (1 time)
* ''The Baltimore Sun''
** WWE Tag Team of the Year (2016) – with Scott Dawson (wrestler), Scott Dawson
* ESPN
** Tag Team of the Year (2023 – with Dax Harwood)
* Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
** AAA World Tag Team Championship (AAA World Tag Team Championship#Title history, 1 time) – with Dax Harwood
* New Japan Pro Wrestling
** IWGP Tag Team Championship (List of IWGP Tag Team Champions, 1 time) - with Dax Harwood
* ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated''
** List of Pro Wrestling Illustrated awards#Tag Team of the Year, Tag Team of the Year (2022)
** Ranked No. 98 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated#PWI 500, PWI 500'' in 2019
* Ring of Honor
** ROH World Tag Team Championship (List of ROH World Tag Team Champions, 1 time) - with Dax Harwood
* ''Sports Illustrated''
** Ranked No. 9 of the Sports Illustrated#Wrestler of the Year, top 10 wrestlers in 2022
* WrestleForce
** WrestleForce Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with John Skyler
* WWE
** WWE 24/7 Championship (List of WWE 24/7 Champions, 1 time) – with Scott Dawson
** World Tag Team Championship (WWE), WWE Raw Tag Team Championship (List of World Tag Team Champions (WWE), 2 times) – with Scott Dawson
** WWE Tag Team Championship, WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship (List of WWE Tag Team Champions, 1 time) – with Scott Dawson
** NXT Tag Team Championship (NXT Tag Team Championship#Reigns, 2 times) – with Scott Dawson
** Triple Crown (professional wrestling)#List of WWE Tag Team Triple Crown winners, First WWE Tag Team Triple Crown Champions – with Scott Dawson
** NXT Year-End Award (2 times)
*** Match of the Year (NXT Year-End Award#2016 NXT Year-End Awards, 2016) – with Scott Dawson vs. DIY (professional wrestling), #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) in a Professional wrestling match types#Series variations, two-out-of-three falls match for the NXT Tag Team Championship at NXT TakeOver: Toronto (2016), NXT TakeOver: Toronto
*** Tag Team of the Year (2016) – with Scott Dawson
Wilder and Scott Dawson (wrestler), Scott Dawson simultaneously pinned R-Truth to become co-WWE 24/7 Championship, WWE 24/7 Champions.
* ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter''
** List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Feud of the Year, Feud of the Year (2022)
** List of Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards#Tag Team of the Year, Tag Team of the Year (2022, 2023)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Cash
1987 births
All Elite Wrestling personnel
American male professional wrestlers
Living people
People from Dare County, North Carolina
Professional wrestlers from North Carolina
Sportspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina
WWE 24/7 Champions
NXT Tag Team Champions
AEW World Tag Team Champions
21st-century male professional wrestlers
21st-century American professional wrestlers
ROH World Tag Team Champions
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions
AAA World Tag Team Champions
WWE Tag Team Champions
World Tag Team Champions (WWE)