Daniel Wheeler, better known to professional wrestling fans as Cash Wheeler, had his bail set at $2,500 during an arraignment hearing Friday afternoon after his arrest earlier in the day, court minutes show.
Wheeler was arrested Friday morning in Florida and charged with one count of aggravated assault with a firearm—a third-degree felony in the state. Wheeler was booked in Orange County Jail, documents show. Wheeler's attorney said during the arraignment that his client turned himself in late Thursday night.
Wheeler is not to have contact with the alleged victims or any witnesses in this case, according to the terms of his release. The 36-year-old was also instructed to turn in any weapons, firearms, or ammunition he owns to the sheriff's department within 12 hours of his release, pending the result of the case.
"AEW has been made aware of the charge, and we are closely monitoring the situation," an AEW spokesperson said in a statement to Newsweek. "He is fully cooperating with local authorities."
Wheeler is scheduled to wrestle at an AEW event in London, which is expected to draw up to 80,000 fans, on August 27. AEW has not announced any changes to the event. Wheeler was not asked to surrender his passport upon his release, court documents show.
Newsweek reached out to Wheeler's lawyers for comment.
What is Cash Wheeler accused of doing?
During the arraignment, which the court streamed, prosecutors accused Wheeler of flashing a handgun during an alleged "road rage" incident.
Orange County records show that Wheeler's alleged offense was committed on July 27. A warrant was issued for the AEW tag-team champion the next day by the Orlando Police Department. On August 3, Wheeler's attorneys issued a plea of not guilty on his behalf and his appearance at a pretrial conference was waived.
Prosecutors said that Wheeler does not know the alleged victims. A third-degree felony in Florida is punishable by up to five years in jail and a $5,000 fine.
The prosecution and defense both said that Wheeler does not have a prior criminal record.
Wheeler's arrest was first reported by the Orlando Sentinel.
Cash Wheeler's professional wrestling career
Wheeler, a North Carolina native, made his professional wrestling debut in 2005. Wheeler and fellow professional wrestler Dax Harwood are the reigning AEW Tag Team Champions. Working under the team name FTR, they are considered one of professional wrestling's best tag teams. In 2022, Sports Illustrated named Wheeler the ninth-best pro wrestler in the world.
Prior to All Elite Wrestling, Wheeler worked for World Wrestling Entertainment under the name Dash Wilder. Wheeler, with Harwood, held the Raw and Smackdown Tag Team championships during their tenure in WWE.
The duo left WWE in 2020 to sign with AEW. Since then, the team has held tag team titles in promotions worldwide, including AEW, Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling and Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide.
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