FTR As Luchador Tag Team Champions Is Perfect AEW Booking
David Mccullough FTR debuted in AEW during the middle of the lockdown era of professional wrestling. For years, FTR had been trying to get out of their WWE contract, asking for their release multiple times. Their run on the WWE main roster was less than stellar for a team of their talents and they knew they deserved so much more than what they were getting.
So as they waited for their contracts to run down they started teasing potential dream matches on social media. In 2018, Cash Wheeler would say in a since deleted tweet, “One day we’ll wrestle the Young Bucks & everybody will rejoice. Remember this tweet.”
On the same day, Matt Jackson responded, tweeting, "One day we’ll wrestle The Revival & everyone will rejoice. Remember this tweet."
RELATED: 5 Reasons FTR Is The Best Team In AEW (& 5 Reasons Why It's The Young Bucks)
FTR Has Been Disappointing In AEW
The dream FTR-Young Bucks feud was the first thing on the agenda when FTR finally got out of their WWE contracts and made the move over to AEW. Unfortunately, the feud didn’t live up to expectations.
At Full Gear 2020, FTR vs. The Young Buck was a masterclass of tag team wrestling and an absolute match of the year contender. However, the feud that preceded it was very underwhelming and would even draw criticism from FTR themselves. The Young Bucks were positioned as heels, bizarrely painting this dream match as heel vs. heel. Realizing it wasn’t working, the Bucks were quickly turned face just before the PPV, but the damage to the feud was already done.
Since then, FTR struggled to find their footing. They won the AEW Tag Titles from the Young Bucks, but their reign as champions was mostly forgettable, holding the belts for just two months. They then joined MJF’s “The Pinnacle” faction, but they were still having trouble find an identity of their own.
Step up… Lucha FTR!
RELATED: FTR's Dax Harwood Calls AEW Boss Tony Khan A 'Creative Genius'
Lucha Libre Legends: FTR
On a special Saturday Night Dynamite, Andrade El Idolo brought out two unknown luchadors to face the Lucha Brothers for the AAA Tag Team titles. The Super Ranas (translated to the Super Frogs) then had their debut match and against all odds, won the AAA Tag Team Titles. However, these 'super frogs' looked suspiciously like Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler.
FTR were revealed during the match and then the team that is about as far away from Lucha Libre as humanly possible were suddenly holding the AAA Tag Team Titles!
Why is it so bizarre for FTR to be holding Lucha Libre titles, you ask? Let's explain.
Lucha Libre wrestling is much different from the way most of American fans are used to seeing it. This is especially true in tag team wrestling. In Lucha Libre tag matches, when the legal wrestler of a team leaves the ring, his tag partner may enter the ring and take his place as the legal man. As the legal man can willingly step to the outside whenever they want, there is essentially no need for a physical tag to bring your partner into the match. This gives Lucha Libre tag matches a more chaotic feel with more frantic action in and out of the ring.
Can you see FTR abiding by this rule? To them, this is nonsense. Tag teams need intelligence, they need to cut off the ring, hold the tag ropes, and do proper tags. FTR won’t abide by any of this Lucha malarkey!
Also in Lucha Libre matches, disqualification can occur when an opponent uses an illegal hold or illegal moves such as the piledriver, a use of which in any match is grounds for immediate disqualification. Also weapons, low blows, outside interference, attacking the referee, and ripping at an opponent’s mask are also grounds for disqualification. FTR has done most of these “illegal maneuvers” multiple times a match in AEW.
Can you imagine FTR in a Lucha Libre match? FTR will abide by the rules of tag team wrestling, they will hold the tag rope (not a rule in Mexico), they will do no flips (all fists), they will physically tag in and out (not necessary) and they will try to "educate" the Mexican fans on how exactly old school tag team wrestling should be.
FTR are the complete antithesis to Lucha Libre. It may have taken a while but it feels like FTR have finally found their footing in AEW. Raging against a tradition that is not their own, FTR could use this momentum as a springboard to gaining the AEW Tag Team Championships once more.