FTR Reach Dubious Milestone Following NJPW Wrestle Kingdom

New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 17 event featured several title changes to kick off 2023. In the third match of the main card, Bishamon's Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi defeated FTR's Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. The loss for FTR marked the end of a lengthy championship streak that concluded with them losing the Ring of Honor, AAA, and IWGP tag titles all within the span of a month. This is also the first time since October 2021 that the duo are without gold.

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It all began on the October 16, 2021, episode of "AEW Dynamite" when FTR beat The Lucha Brothers to win their first AAA World Tag Team Championship. During WrestleMania weekend in April, Harwood and Wheeler sought out another title when they challenged The Briscoes for the ROH World Tag Team Championship at Supercard of Honor, the first ROH event under the ownership of Tony Khan. FTR emerged victorious and went on to defend both the AAA and ROH titles against The Young Bucks on the following episode of "Dynamite."

At AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in June, FTR outlasted United Empire and Roppongi Vice to pick up their first IWGP Tag Team Championship, bringing their collection to three titles from three different companies while under contract to AEW. Their impressive run was highlighted by two more encounters with The Briscoes — a two-out-of-three falls main event at ROH Death Before Dishonor in July, followed by a grueling Double Dog Collar match at ROH Final Battle in December where The Briscoes regained the gold.

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On December 28, Dralistico and Dragon Lee beat FTR for the AAA tag title at AAA Noche De Campeones. The losing streak continued on January 4 at Wrestle Kingdom, marking an end to the monumental 445-day run with numerous titles.

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