Saturday night’s AEW Collision opened with a shocker as Ricky Starks and Big Bill dethroned FTR’s Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood as the AEW World Tag Team Champions. Due to the abrupt nature of the match, and Wheeler’s lack of involvement in it, many speculated that Wheeler was injured, causing the title change. However, it doesn’t sound as though the AEW star is expected to be out of action for very long, if at all.
Today on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer stated that Wheeler is not injured, and Saturday’s loss was simply meant to highlight Starks and Big Bill. The idea of the title change reportedly came from FTR, and Meltzer stated there is intended to be a rematch. A later report from Fightful Select stated that Harwood was the one pushing for Starks and Big Bill to win the titles. On top of that, it stated that Wheeler is, in fact, dealing with a rib injury. The severity of that reported injury is not clear, and it’s unknown if he’ll miss any time because of it.
The Young Bucks are the number one contenders for the AEW World Tag Team Championships, making FTR’s loss on Saturday even more surprising. It was widely expected that FTR and the Young Bucks would have another rematch at AEW Full Gear next month, set to take place in southern California – the home turf of Matt and Nick Jackson. That rematch is still possible if Harwood and Wheeler win the titles back in the near future.
Back in August, it was revealed that Wheeler is dealing with a serious legal situation in the state of Florida. Wheeler turned himself in to authorities on August 3 and was charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, though the information didn’t become known publicly until over two weeks later. The AEW star was accused of pointing a weapon at another driver during a road rage situation in July, and Wheeler entered a not-guilty plea. Since then, there have been no updates on the situation, but it doesn’t seem as though the title loss is related.
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