QT Marshall On WWE NXT No Longer Opposing AEW Dynamite On Wednesdays

AEW's QT Marshall sat down with Chris Van Vliet to talk about a variety topics. Among them was the idea of AEW getting back on the road again, something Marshall believes will be coming sooner than later.

"I think so," Marshall said. "As more states open up, I mean look at UFC. They just had a sold out crowd in Jacksonville. I haven't been following, so I don't know what happened afterwards. I hope the effect wasn't that bad and with vaccinations we can get back to normal. The one thing I want is a sold out crowd. My biggest fear is no noise. But wrestling with no noise on AEW Dark, I think we will be OK now."

Later Marshall was asked about AEW now running unopposed Wednesday night after winning the Wednesday Night War. While Marshall is happy it gets more eyes on the product, he still feels there's competition on that night.

"Firstly, I think it's exciting because there's going to be more eyes on our product," Marshall said. "But also, MTV Challenge, I didn't know it was a thing. They have the top spot on TV every week and we are competing with them. I just think we need to give people the best product and get people interested in what we are doing. In our stories, characters and personalities. Just hope each fan will watch and tell a friend."

Marshall recently turned heel against former tag team partner Dustin Rhodes and his brother, Cody Rhodes, to form The Factory stable with Aaron Solow, Anthony Ogogo and Nick Comoroto. According to Marshall, the shift in his character has been in the works for some time, based around the fans believing him to be unworthy of his position.

"It was around the time that I started teaming with Dustin Rhodes," Marshall said in regards to when the shift began. "All the comments from the fans saying, 'I don't deserve to team with Dustin. It should be this person it should be that person. QT doesn't deserve TV time.' Wherever they got that from was the narrative from the beginning. If AEW actually presented me as who I am, a 17 hear veteran who has travelled the world. A guy who busted his ass... But we didn't present me as that, we presented it as Cody's coffee getter.

"Think about the first match, I was presented as this guy who couldn't anything. Then we flipped the opinion of the fans by the end of the match. That was planned. We wanted to get me over and for me to succeed. We were able to do that, but not able to capitalize. Little by little that hard work I've been doing, I was offered a backstage deal. So the moment I got in the ring, this was my time. But when I realized I was just going to be in the shadow of the Rhodes family, I started building my own team. I decided it's now or never, and got Cody to do that exhibition match. No turning back now, let's go full speed ahead and take no prisoners."

Unbeknownst to some, Marshall wears three hats in AEW as a talent, backstage personal and trainer of AEW's school the Nightmare Factory. Marshall doesn't just do these jobs because he excels at them, he does them because he loves them.

"Those are all of my passions," Marshall stated. "I love teaching and I love behind the scenes. I have one on ones with Tony Khan all the time. It's very fun, but it is time consuming and tiring. I can definitely see a difference if we are up all night and I have to be in the ring the next day. With that there is pressure. But deep down I know that the money for me is behind the scenes. I have to go above and beyond to make sure I don't mess that up. If one gets taken away, it will be the wrestling."

Marshall has become quite familiar with Daily's Place, AEW's home throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. He told Van Vliet some of the things he's learned from working there over the past year.

"So one thing about wrestling in front of a wrestling school is that I have wrestled in front of wrestlers almost every night," Marshall said. "For me, it was kind of like home. But for the big stars, I'm sure it's harder for them. It's nuts that we are watched by 1 million people but have 1 thousand in attendance. Of course you can redo stuff, you have the option if there is no audience. We try not to and don't want to, but you have the audience. It's weird because we always teach that there is no second take, but that's TV magic for you."

Before he was known as an in ring talent, Marshall received notoriety as Cody Rhodes' right hand man, as frequently seen on AEW's Road to Shows. According to Marshall, that all came about from them meeting at their former place of employment.

"It was backstage at Ring of Honor," Marshall said. "I was doing commentary at the time for Women of Honor, that was the deal. I met him and he was nice. He asked me if I could let Brandi [Rhodes] in the back door. Damien Priest told Cody that I had a facility, because Brandi wanted to train. One thing led to another, he wanted to train somewhere for All In.

"He wanted someone with passion and thought the same way he did. When AEW started he was presented with the opportunity to have an assistant. I remember him asking me to join and telling me what I was going to make. Man, I was like Jesus, I just want to wrestle. I didn't want to ruin anything that I already have. But I'm always going to be known as Cody's guy, but that's not what I want. I want to be someone who gets opportunities by working hard."

Marshall lost to Cody Rhodes on Wednesday's special Blood & Guts edition of AEW Dynamite.

You can watch the full interview below.