Molly Belle: FTR: Jericho Rose

When I think of resurrection in the world of professional wrestling, I envision comebacks. Like so many other sports, these are commonplace in our world. We see these larger than life human beings struggle, whether with injuries or other things oftentimes even more severe and debilitating. Many of them decide to work tirelessly to step foot once again between the hallowed ropes they call home. Others decide that enough is enough and give it up completely. All I ever desire for these incredible people who sacrifice their bodies and time for my enjoyment every week is that they find happiness in whatever form. It’s what we all deserve.

Still, when considering the idea of resurrection, I cannot help but to think of a couple of throwbacks who give everything to this thing of ours. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler grace our television screens with such joy and passion. It’s impossible to ignore the dedication they bring to something we all care so much about. Both have talked at length about the impact the business has had on their lives, quite literally altering the very trajectories they were at one point on. Take a moment with me and appreciate the magnitude of that. It’s a beautiful thing.

It’s not a foreign concept to us fans, right? I know that for me, professional wrestling has saved my life multiple times. It sounds dramatic, but I promise you that it is not. For two men like Dax and Cash to have made it to the very top of the business they love so dearly, it’s an inspiration all on its own. When you look deeper, it’s even more than that.

Like many other career paths, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed in the wrestling business. It doesn’t matter if you’re on top of the world or working a barn in front of three people. A multitude of risks and uncertainties await everyone who climbs through the ropes, every time they lift their legs through them. For FTR, it wasn’t any easy journey. As a fan, I can pick moments when the two men faced varying levels of unknown and were presented with the choice to give in or push on.

At each fork in the road though, instead of leaving their boots behind, they not only chose to carry on in the business they loved, they found a way to further resurrect their careers to levels they hadn’t yet been. You’ll have to grant me a moment to explain fully. I’m not for one second suggesting their careers have ever been on death’s door. I have no insight to that. What I have seen as a simple fan though, is the beautiful resolve and incredible courage to never settle for less than they deserve.

Much like the biblical city of Jericho, constantly reborn from its ashes, FTR has always risen again.

Something else that comes to mind when I picture Dax and Cash, and you’ll have to excuse my fleeting stereotype of these two southern gentlemen, is country music. I don’t fancy myself an expert, but I do enjoy some twang in my music, especially in the summer when the sun is shining. I find myself more drawn to the genre the older I get. What’s with that?

Anyway, Dax has been particularly honest about what he sees for the end of FTR’s career as a tag team. They’re closer to the sunset than the sunrise, right? He and Matt Koon have talked at length about it on their wonderful podcast, FTR with Dax Harwood, which I implore you to seek out and listen to weekly. Dax expects the next contract to be the team’s very last in a wrestling ring, at least as a team.

It’s a statement that makes me both sad and happy at the same time. On one hand, I’ll miss them. Plain and simple. There is no one like them. On the other, it makes me incredibly happy to have been able to see them do their thing for as long as I have. It also brings so much joy to my heart to know that they’ll both leave the ring with their relative youth (for wrestling anyway) and so much time to spend with their loved ones. I know how much that time means to both of them.

So, in pulling back to the odd country music reference from a couple paragraphs ago, you might picture their career as an old western town. Early in their careers, the town was built from scratch. They were forced to learn what they needed and what they wanted to build for the future. They introduced love to their lives and figured out themselves along the way. From nothing, they built their world into a bustling and busy land of opportunity, passing knowledge onto other hungry pioneers eager to follow in their footsteps.

Their journey wasn’t without its obstacles though. Their faith, strength, and loyalty would be challenged by personal tragedy and by people more powerful than them. They would be forced to make a decision that would alter their path and legend forever. Fueled with the desire to be great, they bet on themselves again like they always had. Over time, their town evolved, as towns and careers do. As the sun dives further in the sky, I can’t help but wonder what it will be like when all we are left with are stories and tumbleweeds of matches and feuds gone by.

The thing about tumbleweeds, at least the type of tumbleweeds that might blow through their ghost town when the time comes, is that they are resurrection plants. That’s right. They have the ability to resume growth when the environment around it allows rehydration.

Some might even call it a revival.

These unique tumbleweeds are known as the Jericho Rose.

Lucky for us, we have their whole career available to us whenever we would like. Also, there is the small fact that they aren’t near done yet. They have a heavy decision ahead of them, one that will bookmark one end of their entire story. Its gravity cannot be overstated.

I’d ask everyone reading this to appreciate these two living legends while we have the opportunity. Dax talks often on his podcast about teams and talents he enjoyed when he was young, people I have only seen clips of in many cases. There are many I wish I would have had the opportunity to feel the energy of, as I can with FTR and the talents of today. We have such a small window to enjoy these people. I wish we’d be better as a group in showing them the love and appreciation that they deserve.

I will follow and support Dax and Cash wherever they go. I don’t say that about many talents, to be honest. In a time where the amount of wrestling readily consumable is at an all time high, there is only so much time in a day or week. You make time for FTR. You make time for Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler. You make time for them for the fantastic talents they are but also for the genuinely wonderful human beings they are.

I wish them the best in their coming decision and in the years they have left. I hope that they are able to make of it whatever their dreams desire. They’ve already left me with enough perfect wrestling moments to last a lifetime. They owe us nothing. But they’ll continue giving because that’s what they do. It’s what’s in their very souls.

In closing, Taylor McCall authors a beautiful song coincidentally called “Jericho Rose.” It’s closing lyrics have FTR written all over them. It’s impossible for me to hear them and not think of Dax and Cash.

“And I see the chains that keep you tethered,

Callused hands dance under pressure,

Warmed by the fire now free like the ember,

Along for the ride, guided by your whisper.”

Thanks for allowing us along, boys. We’re waiting eagerly for the next and final chapter. I have no doubt it will be beautiful.