QT Marshall does it all for All Elite Wrestling.
Besides being an active wrestler on the roster, Marshall is the AEW Director of Creative Coordination and is also a coach who helps the younger talent in and outside of the ring.
Ahead of Wednesday's AEW Dynamite, Marshall spoke with DAZN News about his time in AEW, working with Shaquille O'Neal in his journey to wrestling for AEW, wrestling CM Punk in his hometown of Chicago, and the potential of rising star Hook.
(Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
DAZN: My wife is a frequent watcher of Dynamite and Rampage. I told her I was talking to you, and she's like, ‘Oh, the man that wears the bowling shirts? I think the shirts are brilliant.'
QT Marshall: It was a conscious decision that I made when I broke away from the Nightmare Family that I wanted to look different. Wear something professional and comfortable. That was what I based it off of. I didn't realize that (I was) going to be compared to Charlie Harper all the time from “Two and Half Men.” I was going more for like Tony Soprano. The original shirt I had came from a website that was like how to dress like Tony Soprano. They're really not bad. They're comfortable. They're easy to iron, and they're all short sleeves. I'm not a suit person. If it were me, I would always wear a track outfit. But of course, I'm not the tip-top athlete either, but I'm a coach. So I try to be comfortable. This was something I found. They come in multiple colors and all this stuff, so it worked out. I think anything I do that people are going to talk about, I'm going to keep doing it.
DAZN: Many people don't know this, but you are the Director of Creative Coordination, a coach and wrestler for All Elite Wrestling. How did you get involved in the coaching, and how did it lead you to AEW?
QM: In 2017, I opened up my own school with Glacier called The Power Factory. He trained at the (WCW) Power Plant, and I was a Monster Factory guy. Then I started training Brandi (Rhodes, former AEW executive, and wrestler). Then when AEW started, I just started doing everything I could. When I got the job there, they asked me, ‘What do you want to do?’ I said, ‘I want to do everything.’ I just made a list of all the stuff I wanted to do, and one of them was coaching, helping put matches together. Whatever I could do to help elevate other talent as well. The trust was there. I think that was the biggest thing.
Then when a lot of the athletes from our facility started working for AEW, of course, they're naturally going to want to come to me because they know they can trust me. Not that they can't trust other people. But it's just one of those things. Now they're at the level where we can start delegating them to other coaches. It's pretty cool to see the growth.
DAZN: You wrestled CM Punk in Chicago the day before Thanksgiving on an edition of Dynamite. What was that experience like for you?
QM: It was surreal. Knowing when he was coming in the day of, I found out because I saw him backstage. We spoke about elevating younger talent. I don't fit that mold. I'm not the guy that he's going to want to come in and help elevate. That's no disrespect to myself. It's just one of those things. I know what my job is. When Tony (Khan, AEW President) told me what the idea was, of course, I was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’
I'm never going to say no to anything anyway. But when it was explained to me, I was like, ‘This would be really cool.’ I didn't realize they would do the promo segment first (with MJF). I wanted to take as much pressure off of us as possible. I was really proud of the idea that we were able to go out there and wing it. We didn't want to take away from the fan experience either. That's something that is knowing that you have in your back pocket that you could go out there and do it on the fly. We did want to give them a good show as well. But we had a lot of time, and they would be a little tired from the big promo segment they did. So we just tried to tell a simple story. Also, I don't want to insult the fans' intelligence either. I'm just going to do what's right for the business at that moment. And that's what we did. It was really fun. It was really cool. I'm sure he has a lot of input on who he wants to get in the ring with and who he's able to trust. And I was one of those guys.
DAZN: I got sent a video recently of you working with Shaquille O'Neal before his match in AEW at the beginning of 2021. How cool of a moment was that for you, and what was that experience like?
QM: One day, we were training, and he showed up to the school because he was friends with Jade (Cargill, AEW TBS Champion), and he also knew the owner of our facility. I knew he did that thing with WWE at that time. I'm always wanting to just throw it out there. I make things awkward. I just say whatever's on my mind. I told him, ‘When are you going to wrestle?’
He looked at me (and) I was like, ‘I could teach you how to do this in 10 days.’ He was like, ‘Really?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah. If you're going to have a match, if you put your mind to it, we can do it.’ One thing led to another, and that's how it all started. He was very dedicated to how he did everything. It was surreal in a sense. Again, trust. He trusted me. I was open and honest about what the business was about. To the point where he didn't want to talk to anyone else. No PR people. He obviously spoke to Tony. I was like, ‘Hey, about the money situation.’ He was like, ‘I want to talk to you. Don't give me your guy. Don't give me your office guy. Just you for all the interviews.’ I was his publicist for like a day, setting him up with all the interviews, which was cool. But he did everything. We made it work. The match was great. Really fun.
DAZN: Currently, you are feuding with Hook. The fans have gravitated to him. He walks out and has this presence about him. He's not the biggest guy in the world, but he carries himself like a star. What is his potential?
QM: For him, that's real. He's never nervous. That goes a long way. Because to him, this is as real as it gets, and it's a business too. He's not stupid, either. I talked to him about a lot of ideas outside of storylines. We talk about a lot of stuff and getting him set up with his music and all that stuff. He thinks way outside the box. That's great right now because that's what wrestling really is. His potential, I mean, he can take it as far as he wants. Size-wise, our business has changed a lot. It's not a giant man. Look at a guy like Nick Comoroto. He has a harder time connecting with an audience than someone like Hook, which is crazy. Because back in the day, Nick Comoroto would be world champion off his look alone. Potential, he could take it as far as he wants. We'll see what he actually does and how much he actually continues and if this phase of Hookamania continues. It is crazy. We'll be at a taping, and midway through the show, during a commercial break, the whole crowd is chanting, “We want Hook, We want Hook.”
In between shows, if he's not performing, Tony will send him out there just to pop the crowd. They're into him.