There was a time where FTR, Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler, returning to AEW on new contracts felt incredibly unlikely. The duo, mostly Harwood, consistently complained about the team's lack of title shots despite being perennial number one contenders, the team began working more indie matches to supplement their lack of AEW television time, and there were even talks about not just jumping ship to WWE but maybe leaving broadcast wrestling for a year in favor of a tour of the indies.

Sure, Tony Khan did his best to keep Harwood and Wheeler busy and happy, giving them an incredible feud with The Briscoes in Ring of Honor, booking them to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship belts at Forbidden Door, even allowing them to become the Lucha Libre AAA Champions at TripleMania, but as 2022 wound down, FTR lost to The Gunns, lost a title match to The Acclaimed, and were granted time off to re-evaluate their future for the first few months of 2023.

Fortunately, over that time period, Harwood specifically appears to have had a bit of a change of heart about his future in Tony Khan's company, as he's not only stated that FTR are ready to return to television on his FTR podcast, but went on to discuss how he wants to make AEW the best company he possibly while discussing his past pro-CM Punk comments in an interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated.

“That was David Harwood speaking, and I was talking about one of my best friends,” says Harwood. “Just because of what happened, or what people think happened, there is no ill will. I’m here, at least through the duration of my contract in April, to make AEW the best company I can. If I continue to stay here, I want to make AEW the best company I possibly can, especially the younger wrestlers. There is so much potential here. Deep down, there are good people in wrestling—myself, Cash, Matt Koon, Punk, The Young Bucks—and we all inherently want to be good.”

“Some people say I take wrestling too seriously. I take this seriously because I refuse to be overlooked. I’m making the most of this career. I want to leave a legacy here, especially after wrestling has meant so much to me in my life.”

Alright, so Harwood did technically preface his comments by saying make AEW the best company he can “at least through the duration of his contract,” but between those comments, his TV return comments, and his post on Twitter shouting out all of the awards AEW won in the 2023 Wrestling Observer Awards, it's looking like he might not have to change the employer on his taxes just yet.

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FTR gain another supporter in Team CM Punk.

Speaking of CM Punk, Mark Henry decided to weigh in on the former AEW Champion on Busted Open Radio and let it be known that he not only wants Khan to bring him back but to actually lean into the storyline between “The Best in the World” and The Elite in order to really make the AEW World Trios Title matter.

“Punk has posted things,” Henry said via Fightful. “If you didn't love it and you didn't really want to do it, you woudn't post. You wouldn't have any interactions on social media at all. You'd just let it go. He has not been released from his contract. That being said, one of the things that I've seen is FTR has supported Punk the whole time, which I find to be refreshing in pro wrestling. We need to support each other, even if there is a problem. How cool would it be to see FTR go to Punk and say, ‘we'll stand beside you against The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. Win, lose, or draw, we support you. The loser has to be the one to apologize.' Somebody is going to have to apologize, even if they don't want to. It also brings a little bit of togetherness. You have to use it now. You can't have Punk come back and not address the issue, not say anything, ‘we're just going to move on and put Punk with Powerhouse Hobbs.' You can't do that. You have to bring him back and make it mean something.”

Wow, now that is a very interesting idea, especially since Henry summed it up by declaring that Punk isn't a locker room cancer. Would FTR and The Elite actually be down with the idea? Well, we know one of those parties is, as Harwood commented on the story, too, implying, again, that April might not be the end of his AEW journey after all.