QT Marshall On Why He Doesn't Want The Nightmare Factory To Be An AEW Performance Center
QT Marshall helped train at the Monster Factory in New Jersey for years before starting up his own school in Georgia. The Monster Factory is owned and run by Danny Cage and Marshall discussed the differences in training styles between he and Cage when he joined The Wrestling Inc Daily podcast.
"Our similarities are that we're both very honest. I feel that you have to be honest with the people that are paying you. At the same time, I'm not a babysitter. I don't force people to come to training and if you don't wanna come to training, then that's on you," said Marshall.
He added that relying on natural talent only takes you so far and you have to put in the work. Marshall then added that he's very selective on which trainees he offers referrals to.
"When they come and ask for a [referral], I just ask them if they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. They know when they're asking me, as soon as I flip the question they know if they've done everything they need to do to deserve that opportunity. It took me 16 years of hard work and lots of training. I spent over $15,000 on wrestling training through seminars and tryouts. I don't wanna give these guys a free pass to the next level because it's gonna look bad on me. It's hard enough and I've gotta hold onto my reputation. I don't want anyone else ruining it for me," stated Marshall.
Another person involved with Marshall's school is Ray Lloyd, formerly known as Glacier in WCW. Marshall discussed how Lloyd got involved with his school.
"I met Ray a long time ago in Orlando when I was living down there. I did a couple of local shows for him and he was very impressed of me at 24 wearing a suit to the show and dressing for the part," recalled Marshall. "So at WrestleMania week in Orlando, I saw him. We started chatting and he said, 'Oh, you live in Atlanta? I have a house in Atlanta. If you ever want help with your school, I've got this guy who trains football players and has this amazing facility.'"
Marshall and Lloyd then decided to partner up along with Chip Smith to create the facility. It has four rings and it helped them land Brandi Rhodes as a student when she needed a place to train.
"It's weird ? I am to Cody what Ray kinda was to Dusty because Ray used to help Dusty out at his school. Now Cody and I are helping at the school together and Brandy's there as well. It's surreal how this stuff comes full circle," said Marshall.
Marshall said the school is in the transitioning phase to becoming The Nightmare Factory but he doesn't plan on it becoming solely AEW's Performance Center.
"I don't think we're gonna go there because I don't wanna pigeon-hole all of the athletes because that cuts out half of the dream. We'll see as I'm down for anything. But right now we're training as many people as we can and a couple of our athletes have been picked up by AEW," Marshall said.
"Luckily, the good part of what's been going on in the world is that this has given lots of locals opportunities. The ones that I present are always gonna be the ones that check all of the boxes and do everything they're asked to do?
"I've got 60 students and they all want jobs. But I tell them this isn't how it works and they shouldn't get spoiled."
Another part of the AEW family, Dustin Rhodes, plans on opening his own wrestling school soon and Marshall talked about working with Dustin.
"He's asking me a lot of questions about the ins and outs and stuff like that. I told him if you have a passion for teaching, that's all you need. All of the bells and whistles are great, but there's a lot of people who have bells and whistles but they don't have the passion to teach and their schools don't succeed," said Marshall.
Q.T. Marshall is featured in the documentary "The Wrestler: A Q.T. Marshall Story" which is now available now via Amazon Prime. Q.T. can also be seen every week as part of AEW Dark and AEW Dynamite. QT's full interview aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.