In August 2023, Cash Wheeler of FTR was arrested for aggravated assault with a firearm after allegedly flashing a gun at an individual.
Wheeler continued making appearances on AEW TV during that period until the charges were dismissed in May.
Wheeler discussed that period in his life in a recent interview with Renee Paquette. He mentioned that he contemplated ending his wrestling career following his arrest.
You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On his time dealing with his legal issues: “It was a very rough patch. From August, when I found out about it, to May when everything finally got dismissed, as it should have been the whole time. It was a long stretch. There was a point in time where I couldn’t think about life after May because I knew everything hinged on that. That was the be all, end all. I told my lawyers when it happened; I would not take any sort of plea deal, I would not plead guilty to any charge. I was not guilty and I would not take any sort of plea. On the flip of that, it means I faced the full repercussions if they do find me guilty.”
On what would have happened if he were found guilty: “I don’t know for sure because it’s based on priors and history, which I don’t have. The maximum, if the judge sees fit, is five years in prison. I knew that, but I also knew that I didn’t do it and I was not going to sit here and be like, ‘I’ll take any charge to not go to jail.’ If I do that, AEW has to get rid of me. I can never leave the country again. Everything I ever worked for, over something that never happened. The way it all went about, I don’t see how it ever got that far. I didn’t find out about it until a week after the fact. They never pulled me over and found anything. They never came to my house and searched. They never had a witness, a picture, a video. All they had was one guy’s statement and that was it. I found out a week later that there was already an arrest warrant for me.”
On coming into work during that time: “The things about coming into work. I’m sure there were people that talked when I wasn’t around and I’m sure there were people that had whispers and whatever, but I never wasted too much thought about that. I can’t. I have to be able to compartmentalize these things. I did what I could with it. I knew I was innocent and that’s the one thing I think kept me from being too stressed out about it. I’m taking all the precautions I can. I’m thinking, if it goes to trial, there is a good chance that somebody finds me guilty. I did what I could. When we got back from Wembley, the day that I landed, I paid thousands of dollars out of pocket to drive to Tampa to take a polygraph test, which I passed. The general public are going to have their thoughts and beliefs. The ones that want to think I’m guilty are going to think it no matter what. The ones that believe me, they believed me the whole time. It was something that I was willing to do. It’s an hour long process. It’s the same ten questions, they ask in a different order and they ask four times. I was willing to go through it. I did everything I could on my end to make sure the people who did believe in me (were justified).”
Dax Harwood on what Cash told him at the time: “I don’t want to speak for him. From my perspective, he told me when everything happened. I guess a week after he told me what happened, he said, we have two separate contracts. He said, ‘I think I’m going to retire because I don’t want to subject you to any of this stuff that I’m going through.’ He knew the backlash on Twitter because it’s a cesspool. ‘I’m just going to retire. You don’t have to worry because your contract is with you. I’m going to leave wrestling.’ I had to talk him into not retiring.”
