Dax Harwood Discusses Original Plan For AEW Fight For The Fallen, Move To Asheville

In late September, Hurricane Helene swept through the southern United States, with Asheville, North Carolina left as one of the most devastated and damaged places. Accordingly, AEW's Dax Harwood, Cash Wheeler, and "The Rated R Superstar" Adam Copeland, all Asheville locals, hatched a plan to revitalize the area, both financially and mentally. As Harwood explains, however, that plan later transformed into something even bigger.

"Myself, Cash, and Adam, we met at our wrestling school and we said 'What can we do for Asheville?' Because not only are things not looking good physically and geographically, but also there are a lot of people that are depressed," Harwood told "WrestleZone." "A lot of people lost homes and lost family members. What can we do to bring a little bit of hope and a little bit of joy? So our initial plan was to do just like a live event, a house show here and try to get [AEW CEO] Tony [Khan] on board to bring in some of the talent from AEW.

"Tony said 'Well, you know what, I can do you one better. Why don't we do a live television show from Asheville? We'll do Dynamite.' Initially the plan for January 1 was not Asheville. It was a bigger market."

The January 1 episode of "AEW Dynamite" from Asheville marked a significant milestone, as AEW hosted its first simulcast on TBS and the MAX streaming platform. In addition, the broadcast also marked the return of Fight for the Fallen, a charity event in which proceeds from tickets sales, merchandise, and donations are forwarded to various organizations and causes. In this case, proceeds went to charities such as the MANNA FoodBank, BeLoved Asheville, and The Dream Center.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "WrestleZone" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.