Former WWE creative writer Dave Schilling says current AAA World Tag Team Champions FTR made his life hell during the post-WrestleMania 35 RAW taping back in April 2019.
We noted earlier this week how FTR’s Dax Harwood spoke with Renee Paquette for her “The Sessions” podcast, and revealed how he opened up to WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels about a tough time in his life, only for Shawn to mock him in front of The Kliq while backstage at the RAW 25th Anniversary show on January 25, 2018 as The Revival (FTR) were preparing for the segment that saw Kliq members hitt heir finishers on The Revival after a loss to current Impact World Tag Team Champions The Good Brothers.
“For a lot of guys it’s like ‘oh, it’s a paycheck, who cares,’ but not to me,” Harwood said, when talking about how upset he was following The Revival’s beat down that night at RAW 25. “There’s a legacy I want to leave. But that happened and I talked to Shawn [Michaels]. That was the first time we had talked since the [Performance Center] days. I told him, ‘Man this happened, tore my bicep, went through a really dark period and thought I was going to quit but thankfully I have the greatest wife in the world and she has supported me and brought me out of this funk and out of this dark place and I’m here now, I’m super happy.’ He said ‘I was the same way, I was in this very dark spot that my wife, she’s beautiful, she pulled me out of this dark spot too. You and your partner are way too talented to be doing what you’re doing tonight, you are way too talented to stay at this point. Just keep your nose to the ground and keep grinding and you’ll get over.’ I said ‘oh Shawn, thank you so much.’
“We had this bonding moment, and then we got in front of his friends. X-Pac, Hunter, Billy [Gunn], Road Dogg, Scott [Hall], and as soon as we got in front of his friends, he started making fun of me and making fun of my situation and what happened with my bicep. I was like man I just poured my heart out to you and as soon as we get in front of your friends, cause we’re going over that they’re going to beat the shit out of us, you decide to take all of that stuff and make fun of me about it?”
Harwood continued, “I never ever forgot it and as soon as we were done with the business at RAW [that night], one person said thank you to us and that was Sean Waltman. Everyone else was so cold to us and treated us just like we were the shit on the bottom of their shoes, except for Sean Waltman. I’ll never forget that from Shawn and I hope there’s a day that comes that we can have a conversation and I can ask him why he did that and we can reconcile if he wants to. If I love you, I love you and if I don’t, I don’t.”
In an update, Schilling, who worked WWE creative from February 2019 – April 2019, tweeted a response to Harwood’s comments on Michaels, and revealed how he had issues with FTR on the RAW After WrestleMania 35.
The April 8, 2019 RAW took place the night after WrestleMania 35. FTR lost their RAW Tag Team Titles to Brian Myers and Zack Ryder (Impact Digital Media Champion Matt Cardona) on the WrestleMania 35 Kickoff pre-show, and then lost their rematch the next night on RAW. Schilling claimed FTR made his life hell that night, and made fun of the promo he wrote.
“I feel bad that FTR had a bad experience with Shawn Michaels, but they also made my life hell the Raw after Mania 35 & made fun of the promo I wrote while I was in the room. Tough business and people are rarely their best selves under the pressure cooker,” Schilling wrote.
Schilling continued in follow-up tweets, “The ducked me all night, when they could have helped me make the promo better. We barely got the pre-tape on the air that night. To be clear, I have no lingering resentment toward FTR for something I’m sure was pretty insignificant in their careers. But important to remember not everyone is at their best at TV. Writers are, without a doubt, second class citizens in wrestling. But nobody deserves to be in a hostile or uncooperative work environment, regardless of what they do on the show.”
It should be noted that a replay of the April 8, 2019 RAW shows how there was no promo segment with The Revival. They simply wrestled Hawkins and Ryder, but didn’t even get their entrances shown on the RAW broadcast. A YouTube search shows that there was also no post-show interview or promo segment that was added with The Revival.
FTR has not responded to Schilling’s tweets as of this writing. You can see his full posts below:
The ducked me all night, when they could have helped me make the promo better. We barely got the pre-tape on the air that night.
— Dave Schilling (@dave_schilling) February 22, 2022
Writers are, without a doubt, second class citizens in wrestling. But nobody deserves to be in a hostile or uncooperative work environment, regardless of what they do on the show.
— Dave Schilling (@dave_schilling) February 22, 2022
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