Dax Harwood Calls Recent ROH Match His 'Masterpiece'

Last weekend, the consensus highlight of a Tony Khan-produced Ring of Honor pay-per-view — this time, Final Battle — was, once again, a match between FTR and the Briscoes. In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, their Double Dog Collar war registered a rating of 5 ½ stars. Their trilogy of matches — the previous two occurred at Supercard of Honor in April and July's Death Before Dishonor, which was a two-out-of-three-falls affair — became instant classics and settled a brewing feud that uniquely, unlike other major ROH programs this year, did not play out at all on AEW television.

For the memorable year of wrestling Dax Harwood, one-half of FTR, has experienced in 2022 — also featuring solo matches with CM Punk, his partner Cash Wheeler, and Bryan Danielson — it was this last match at Final Battle that not only took the cake but was regarded as "a masterpiece" by Harwood himself. Harwood, Harwood, who tends to wear his heart on his sleeve on social media when talking about his love of wrestling and what his matches mean to him, posted to Instagram Thursday night to share those sentiments: "Artists have the one piece they're the most proud of, and that's their Masterpiece. This was my Masterpiece. Watching it, honest to God, I've laughed, I've cringed, and I've cried. Over every other match I've had, this is the one I'm the most proud of."

Reflecting on his banner year in the ring, Harwood called 2023 "the great year of my life," but it wasn't long before he was already looking to the future and pondering what 2023 might mean for himself and Wheeler, the other half of FTR. "2023 is going to be unknown territory, and I'm not even sure that we can match up to what we've done this year, but you all have my word, I'll do everything in my power to make sure you're just as entertained as ever