Insight with Chris Van Vliet - QT Marshall on Cody Rhodes, turning heel, The Factory, paying his dues in AEW

Episode Date: May 5, 2021

QT Marshall is a professional wrestler for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and is the Director of Creative Coordination behind the scenes. He is also the head trainer at the Nightmare Factory wrestling school in Atlanta, GA. He talks with Chris Van Vliet about his faction "The Factory", turning heel, his match against Cody Rhodes, the correct pronunciation of his last name, how AEW has pivoted during Covid to continue running shows when AEW might start touring again, and much more!   If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.   For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media: Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up, y'all? It's Druski, and I've teamed up with Mountain Dew to produce a hilarious new basketball podcast called The Do Zone with Drusky. Learn the backstories of your favorite ballers and celebrities like Jamal Murray. Did you have like a favorite team? Was it the Raptors at the time or no? Was the Raptors even started around that time? Come on, bro. I ain't that old, fam.

You're talking like I was 50. Taylor, Rokes, Asian Wilson, and many more. You won't want to miss this. Listen to the Doozone with Drusky on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Oh, yes. Welcome back to another audio adventure. venture on insight. I'm Chris Van Fleet.

Thank you so much for coming back each and every episode and for making this one of the top podcasts in the world. Without you, we've got nothing.

So thank you so much. Speaking of coming back, so great to have QT. Marshall back on the show. And yes, as he tells us in this interview, that's how it's pronounced. It is QT. Marshall.

Not Marshall. You see him in the ring every single week on Dynamite with the factory, but he's got a lot going behind the scenes as well. He heads up the training at the nightmare factory, the wrestling school in Atlanta. He also works behind the scenes with AEW as the director of creative coordination. We find out what a director of creative coordination does. That's his official title. What a title. We figure out what he does

and everything's been going on. I mean, a lot has changed since the interview that we did a year ago. That was episode 65 if you want to go back and check that out. Share this with a friend. snap a screenshot, share it on social media, let us know that you're listening. Tag us both. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. QT is at Real QT Marshall. And if you haven't subscribed yet, let's change that. Take a second, hit subscribe or hit follow wherever you're listening to this right now,

so you don't miss out on any other episodes. If Apple Podcast happens to be where you're listening right now, it would be so greatly appreciated if you could leave a review like this one from RC247. in the UK. He says, changing the game. I don't know where to start with Chris, really, but he's got a goal to reach. And after all the hours of entertainment that he's provided me with, this is just my small way of saying thank you. I listen to a lot of wrestling podcasts and a lot of interviews in general, but Chris is really one of a kind. He is not only great at getting his guests to open up and be vulnerable, but he constantly shows gratitude to you, the listener, and his guests. Chris ends

every episode with a quote of inspiration and always makes me work harder. So one day, if I'm lucky, I could be interviewed by the very best himself. Thank you, Chris. Hopefully someday I can thank you in person. Well, thank you. Even if we can't meet in person right now, R.C. 24-7, I just want to say thank you for the very kind words and for taking the time to leave a review. I look forward to meeting you and possibly interviewing you in the future.

Man, I love the UK. I used to go there like, I used to be in London like three, four, five times a year. So when this thing is all over and we're able to travel again, which I believe actually we can travel if we're fully vaccinated this summer. Maybe I'll see you in the UK this summer. Let's make it happen. Now, you mentioned it in your review. Yeah, I've got a goal.

I've got a very lofty goal of 2,000 reviews before my birthday, which is very quickly approaching on May 19th. After that, we're not reading reviews anymore. So these intros are going to be a lot shorter. We're going to just be getting straight to the conversation, which is what we'll do. right now. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my guest, QT. Marshall. Well, good to see, my friend. Good to see you, too. How's it going? Things are great. You know, I was thinking it's been a little

over a year since our last interview, which we did in person. That was January of 2020. My goodness, I feel like so much has changed in the world, but also so much has changed with you in that time. Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's been a heck of a year. I mean, you know, unfortunately with, you know, the pandemic happening, which professionally actually was one of the greatest things for me, because it gave me the opportunity to really showcase what I could do in the ring, which has led to a lot more opportunities and brings me to, you know, this week, blood and guts versus Cody. Yeah, I feel like sitting in front of me right now, you look like a member of the Sopranos family

or something. You know, that people, I'm Italian from New Jersey. My wife's Italian from New Jersey. I mean, you know, if the shoe fits, you know what I mean? Right. What would you say has been the biggest change since we spoke, you know, a little bit over a year ago? Obviously, I think it would have to be the fact that I'm almost like a key player now on Dynamite, right? Before I was just doing the backstage thing.

I had dip my toes in wrestling a little bit, but like I said previously, over the past year, I've really been able to prove myself and also kind of take my spot in my own hands. Let's put it that way and take what I feel that I've. deserved over the past, you know, 17 years. So where, where did that shift happen? Was it because of COVID? You guys weren't able to bring in as many different talents. So you kind of like looked within and went, all right, well, let's work with the talent we have done. Yeah, I mean, you know, when the boss asked you to go out there on live TV, because there's not many people that he trusts, that kind of gave me the little bit of confidence, I guess I needed to really start speaking up and, and, you know,

asking for more opportunities and stuff like that. So luckily, the one thing in, starting it with AEW that I didn't have to learn was how to wrestle. I already knew how to do that. And it was just waiting for the right moment and then getting that opportunity and getting the ball and not fumbling. You look so comfortable in this role now being a heel. So, yeah, I mean, I enjoy it. I enjoy it.

I don't, I'm not a meet and greet type of person. The fans, the way they talk to wrestlers through social media, like I think Tyson said it's because they, They didn't get, they know they won't get punched in the face, but I challenge anybody to come to the factory and say what they're say to me on Twitter to my face. You know, as long as they sign the waiver, because again, I don't want them to sue me for what we have. But I have no problem putting a fan in their place.

You know, they're a fan. That's what they're meant to just cheer and boo. I don't need to hear their opinions on how the show is written and this, that and the other. Those are critics. You know what I mean? If you're not making money as a critic, keep your mouth shut. Well, there's some old phrase, something along the lines of like, there's no point in taking any criticism from someone in the stands because there's a reason

that they're in the stands and you are the one with the lights on you. You're 100%. I think us wrestlers have given too much power to those people and, you know, like things aren't going to change. I don't know if anyone's noticed, but I'm on TV every week. That's going to keep going. The ratings are there as much as people don't want to say it. Internally, we know.

So we're going to keep it going. And I enjoy it. I'm good at it. and I'm undefeated in 2021, so there's no point in me not being there. You're right. I mean, the ratings are there. And the ratings, I mean, you guys are now, you have no competition on a Wednesday night. How does that work from a business standpoint for you?

I think, you know, it's exciting one because there's going to be more eyes on our product. But also that MTV Road Rules Real World thing, man. I didn't even know that was still a thing. But they have one of the top spots on TV every week as well. so we're competing with them as well. So I think we just have to continue to give the best product and get people interested in what we're doing in our stories, in our characters,

and our personalities, and just hope for that each fan is going to continue to watch and tell a friend. Well, the reality is you're up against every other show on television that night. You know, just because NXT is not on Wednesday night anymore, it doesn't mean you're not competing with a thousand other shows. Right, or like last week, the president of the United States.

Yeah, yeah. It might be, he has a lot of pull. That guy has a lot of name recognition. Exactly. So where did this shift happen for your character? And what was the thought process that went into it for you? It was probably right when I started teaming with Dustin and I saw all the comments and the, you know, the fans telling me that, you know, I don't deserve to team with dust. And it should be this person.

It should be that person. QT doesn't deserve TV time. Like, wherever they got that from, that's the narrative that I think we, we told them from the beginning. I think when AEW started, if we presented me as who I am, which is a, you know, 17 year veteran,

a world traveler, a guy who busted his ass, who put his time in, but we didn't present me as that. We presented me as Cody's coffee gopher and, you know, someone that pushed paper

and worked behind the scenes and stuff like that. So again, perception is reality. And I think, unfortunately, the perception of me when we first started, I mean,

think about the first match I did on Dynamite with Cody. where I was presented as this nobody, as this guy that couldn't do anything. And then we flipped the opinion of the fans by the end of that match. And that was, you know, something that was planned, right? Like that was something that we knew, okay, if we're going into this with our backs up against the wall, but we want to get QT over, we want me to succeed, right? Because there's no point in going out there if it's not for the best result.

And we were able to do that. And then, you know, we didn't capitalize, unfortunately. So little by little, it's been eating me alive inside that all of my hard work, all the stuff I do backstage, you know, like I said, I mean, there are people that were also presented with these opportunities like, you know, Michael Nakazawa, Brandon Cutler, but they were immediately presented with wrestler and backstage contracts. I wasn't. I was offered a backstage deal. And that was it. So the moment I got an opportunity to get in the rain, you know, I knew like, okay, this is my chance. This is where. And then when I realized I was always going to be. in the shadow of the Rhodes family. I was always going to be in Cody's and dust and shadow and stuff like that. You know, I started building my own little team and we decided, hey, it's now or never. Let's do it. I was able to get Cody to do that exhibition match. And I realized, okay, this is our chance. There's no turning back. There's no apologizing. Let's go full speed ahead and take no prisoners, as they say.

I mean, I don't feel like you had to prove yourself to anybody in AEW. Everyone was very aware of the work that you had done and you could do. I feel like it's almost like you needed to win yourself over to the fans. Yeah, I mean, I think that bunkhouse match, right? So I jump off this 20 foot ladder and I get the victory for us and oh my God, QK, like that was one thing that I did. You know what I mean? And then again, we didn't capitalize on it as, and that's my fault.

I should have spoke up and I did it. And, you know, at the same time, I realized, okay, when is my next chance going to come? I'm like, we always have to eat. And unfortunately, if the food isn't coming, sometimes you just got to take it. So, you know, I was doing a lot of stuff on dark and then elevation started. And believe it or not, I had this thing on Sammy's vlog where it was really picking up steam because I was being myself, you know, which unfortunately, a lot of people don't like honesty. And that's what was, but I was reading the comments from the audience. And they were like, man, we need this QT.

We need this QT. And I don't care which QT you think you need. I know where I'm comfortable and I know what I'm good at. And I'm good at making people not like me. And I'm okay with that because, listen, at the end of the day, I have a handful of friends and I don't need any more. You know what I mean? Like there's a lot of acquaintances and I'm okay with that. But I don't need a lot of friends because you'll realize as life goes on that friends really aren't as good as you think they are.

They're only good there for what you could do for that. We spoke at length last time about whether it was QT Marshall or QT Marshall. You said it's QT Marshall, but I feel like we've settled. on QT Marshall. Oh, yeah. Today we're going to show something I did the other day, and it's Marshall. And I'm going to make sure from this point forward, it's Marshall. I mean, what a perfect heel thing to do, too.

I mean, I teach when we teach wrestling, we teach our students, there's nothing more important than your name, right? Like when you introduce yourself, when you talk to the ring announcer, whatever it is, it's your name. This is what people are going to know you as. And I felt it was immediately disrespectful that the first time I was presented on TV, which was at the Fighter Fest when I was out there moving the mannequins around and ex-caliber, who he called me QT Marshall.

And I was like, you know what? But I wasn't in the position to change it. And I wasn't going to fight it at the time because I just wanted to get my foot in the door when it came to the wrestling side. And backstage, you know, they call me by my legal name. So there was no reason for me to, you know, to fight it. But now I have. I will continue to until I get the respect that I deserve.

If we peel the curtain back a little bit, I feel like you've got at least three jobs. So what we see on dynamite in the ring as a wrestler, then you have a job behind the scenes, and then you're also heading things up at the factory, training people at wrestling school. Yeah. So, I mean, obviously, they're all my passions. I love teaching. I love working behind the scenes. You know, I deal one-on-one with Tony all the time.

You know, we're up all night working together at TVs and stuff like that. and it's it's very fun. It's tiring. It's time consuming. And, you know, I definitely see a difference if, you know, we're up all night and then I have to perform the next day. So it's just, and with that pressure that I have of because I know deep down, the money for me as a company is behind the scenes, much more than it is as a wrestler for right now. So I have to go above and beyond to make sure that I don't mess up my behind the scenes gig while I'm performing. Because I'm, if that's the case, if they have to take one away, there's a good chance they're going to take the wrestling one away, and that's the one that I've worked so hard for over the years to get. So, yeah, it's hard juggling and balancing, but, you know, at the end of the day, like, I don't really have a choice at the moment. I remember when COVID first started, and one of the episodes of Dynamite was actually done at the factory.

It was done at the wrestling school. Can you take me behind the scenes of how those decisions were made to move Dynamite to the nightmare factory. It was crazy. We had a, you know, the whole world was shutting down. But I knew that our building was shut down as well. So one thing led to another. We got our building guy in touch with the owner of our facility and this, that, and the other. We were able to make a deal where we were going to film. So we closed the whole facility. We turned our four ring area into one ring, curtains up, the whole deal. And we were able to film a live dynamite that Wednesday night. But then the next day, they put out an order to close the whole entire world.

So we ended up filming like six weeks worth of TV in one day. It was a very tiring and strenuous day, but we did it. I didn't wrestle on any of those matches, which killed me inside because I had just made the debut with Dustin the night before. But I worked side by side with Tony, and I realized then, and what happened was I saw that set up, and I realized like, oh man, I could do this far for And we just aired one of the showcases last night on YouTube on the Nightmare Family channel, which is Cody's students. And, but if you look at the setup, it's really cool. It's something that when I was going to wrestling school, I wish we would have had, you know,

and we give them the full entire presentation. We teach everything from, you know, working the lights, the music, audio, video, everything you can possibly think of. And it's exciting. So that was really cool how we did it. We almost ended up doing it again for a special. shoot but we ended up going somewhere else that was with a sting and and uh derby cinematic deal so it's pretty cool it's good to know that we have that if if it's ever needed and the fact that you

put that together look it looked amazing nobody watching would have ever known it was different at all but the fact that you guys put that together so quickly and it looks so good like i feel like you should be patting yourself on the back for that oh yeah and our production team is amazing i mean i sent them one photo and they were like yep we could do it i was like really okay and then sure enough i mean i walked in i was like oh my goodness like look at this place you know yeah exciting and like I said it really gave me inspiration to over the past you know six months spent about 50,000 dollars out of my own pocket just to just to kind of recreate you know I even have our production company building me an entrance tunnel for the guys so this way they don't

just have to walk out in front of a curtain you know I you know a lot of the wrestlers they might not have a chance to succeed right and when I say succeed I mean make it to a top company but at least while they're here they're going to enjoy it it's going to be like they're Disney land. Someone pointed out last year that you guys had done at that point had done more shows without a crowd than in front of a crowd on dynamite. I kind of went, oh my gosh, wow, that's so true. What do you feel like you've learned from this time being at Daly's Place? So the one thing about wrestling in a wrestling school for the past 16 years is that I've wrestled in front of about 14 other wrestlers every night training. So for me, it was,

kind of like home, right? But for the big stars, the guys that have only been wrestling in front of big crowds, you know, I'm sure it's a little harder for them. It's nuts. You know what I mean? It really is when you think about it, that we're on TV in front of a million people every week and in the crowd there's, you know, we have started to have more fans, so, but at the most 1,000.

So that's exciting. But, yeah, it's surreal. It's surreal that we've been able to continue to do it, too. That's the weirdest part. when I watch wrestling, I see, and I'm just like, man, these guys that are used to wrestling in front of, you know, tens of thousands of people are wrestling in front of nobody. You know what I mean? And, you know, of course, I think I just read something about Chris Jericho stating how they can redo stuff and, you know, which you can. I mean, if you really want to, like, you have the option. If you don't like the way you did something, if there's no audience there, we can. We try not to and we don't want to. And, but you do have that option, which is, it's pretty weird to think like that. you know one of the things about wrestling we always teach is like there's no second takes there are no cuts you know but uh the magic of tv is is there a plan to get back on the road with dynamite at some point this year yeah i think so um as the world opens up and there are states that are more

uh open to i mean look ufc just had a sold-out crowd in jacksville and i haven't really been following but i don't know what the you know what happened afterwards right like i don't know what that effect was. Hopefully not that bad. And hopefully everyone is realizing with the vaccinations and stuff that we can go back to normal. And I'm excited for one because I want a sold out crowd booing me. That's the one thing I want. You know what I mean? I don't want to, you know, my biggest fear is having no noise when you walk out there. But having no noise walking out there wrestling in front of dark or on dark in front of nobody, I think we'll be okay now. Well, that first show that you guys did a Daily's place where there was a crowd, where there was just, you know, you finally opened the doors and had some people in.

Those 500 people sounded like 50,000 people. Oh, yeah. The United States Soccer Federation presents the U.S. Soccer Podcast. My name is David Goss, and I'm joined by my co-host, Megan Clevenberg. And now we're giving people an inside look at the World Cup. Times ticking. I think you can feel the intensity. All the guys are wanting to really take their claim, and they want to be on that World Cup roster.

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And I remember Nick Jackson giving them a welcome back chant. And it was exciting. You know, you get goosebumps thinking about it. Just the fact that those were the first people to take a chance and take a chance on us. And we were willing to take that a chance being outdoors. and, you know, 150 degrees out. And it was exciting, you know. Like I said, I'm very fortunate that we work in a company that takes all the safety,

you know, liabilities and all this stuff seriously. And we're able to do it. This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Is there something interfering with your happiness or is preventing you from achieving your goals? BetterHelp will assess your needs and match you with your own licensed professional therapist. You can start communicating in under 48 hours.

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today. Visit their website and read their testimonials that are posted daily. Visit betterhelp.com slash insight. That's BetterHelphelp.com slash insight and join the over one million people who have taken charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional. In fact, so many people have been using BetterHelp that they're recruiting additional counselors in all 50 states. So the special offer for anybody listening to Insight right now is 10% off your first month. Just go to BetterHelp.com slash Insight. That's Beller. BetterHelp-H-E-L-P.com slash insight. If you could go back like two years to when you first started with AEW,

what do you wish that you knew then that you know now? That you can work hard and ask for what you want. And if the answer is no, just find out how to get there. Right? Like I hope that everyone understands that. If you want something, go get it. And sometimes there are going to be people or roadblocks and you just figure out your ways around them. You know, there's never a such thing as no.

And I remember double or nothing in Vegas, they had so they wanted to do that big thing with the chips and stuff, right? And Moxley throwing Kenny and, well, they needed someone to go through this thing, this box. And no one else was there was myself and the production team. So I have a video of it, me going through the, and I remember telling a couple of the people there like, yeah, well, this is worth it for me because eventually I'm going to ask to wrestle. Like, I knew this in my head the whole time. Okay, I'm going to take this bump, this ridiculous bump at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, two days before the show.

But eventually it will pay off because I am going to ask to wrestle. And when they tell me no, I'm going to have all of these things that I did. And then when I asked, they just said, okay. You know what I mean? And actually it was Tony who asked me to wrestle first. But when I asked to wrestle more, it was like, yeah, sure. I was like, oh, really? I was like, yeah.

You know, and of course, over time I started getting more serious with my diet and this, that, and the other, and really trying to present myself not as this, this nobody. And I think people have, like I said, right now they hate me, which is what I want. Yeah. As long as they keep watching, that's all I care about. Yeah, you're doing a great job at getting people to hate you right now. Yeah, it's not hard. A lot of unhappy people in the world.

And when you boast about your success, you know what I mean? So take me back to the first time that you met Cody because obviously that relationship you have with Cody has changed your life professionally and personally. Yeah, it would have been at center stage in Ring of Honor in Atlanta. I was backstage. I think I was doing like commentary for women of honor. That was part of the deal. And I met him. He, you know, said he was nice.

He asked me if I could let Brandy in the back door. And then, uh, punishment Martinez, Damien Priest had told him that I had. a facility because if Brandy wanted to train, so he started being Brandy by. And one thing led to another, and, you know, he needed the facility a lot for All In. And, you know, one thing led to another, he realized, like, then he saw the documentary and, you know, he saw someone with passion. And, you know, he needed a little bit of help as someone that could work behind the scenes with him and had the same vision. And, you know, one thing led to another. And then when, I guess when AEW started, he was presented with the opportunity to have an assistant.

And I remember him asking me and like telling me what I was going to make and thinking like, Jesus, no, like just ask me to wrestle. Like all of that stuff. You know what I mean? I just want to wrestle. But I didn't want to ruin anything I had. So, you know, I just I did it. Right. And then yeah, one thing led to another.

But then I realized like I'm always going to be known as Cody's guy. And that's not what I want. That's not what I want like, you know, my family to know me as like anyone that watches. I want them to know me as this guy that worked really hard and was presented with opportunities and didn't fumble when he got the ball and now he's going to continue to get opportunities and the fact that people did consider me only a Cody guy,

you know what I mean? Like, hopefully they're eating their words now because on Wednesday I'm going to beat Cody in the middle of the rain and I'm not going to have to worry about that ever again. The biggest thing that stands out for me about QT and about Michael is that when someone gives you the ball, You run with it. You take those opportunities and you run with it and you make the most out of those situations.

Yeah, I mean, you know, I don't have a college degree, right? So this is all I have. This is all I'm good at. And I tell you that to everybody. Like, I'm not good at a lot of stuff. Let me have this. Let me have wrestling. So I know that there's a lot of people that are okay with settling.

And I'm not. I want to go down as the best trainer, as the best behind the scenes worker, as one of the best in-ring performers. Like, I want it all. and I think that over the years I've realized, like, you can have it all. You just have to work really hard. And sometimes you've got to step on some people in the process. And if you're okay with that, as long as you do it to their face.

You know what I mean? As long as you, you know, if you're going to stab somebody, stab them in the heart. I learned that a long time ago. Don't stab them in the back. Just stab them in the heart and tell them why you're doing it. And I've been doing that. And it all leads to Wednesday, right? Yeah.

If somebody watching this wants to train with you at the nightmare factory, What do those steps look like? We have an application process that, you know, myself. Are you always taking applicants? Yeah, yeah, because we do camps every 12 weeks. Okay. And the reason for the camps is just to give them an introductory lesson into wrestling, teach them the basics, and then hopefully use our name and, you know,

stay in our shadow. No, you know, use that and hopefully go out there and wrestle. The only way you're going to learn to wrestle is by wrestling. Yeah. So give them, you know, the basics with the strength. conditioning, nutrition, everything that you could possibly need to succeed in wrestling. And then it's a matter of them taking the ball and running with it. You know, there's people that have came from our camps that have been on dark

and there's people that have come from our camps that we've never heard of, we're never heard from since. And that's on them. You know, like the last thing that Cody, myself or any of the other coaches are going to do is just, you know, call these kids up. Like if they want opportunities, they have to go grab them. And they're there for everybody. And like, that's kind of the one thing that we really try to explain.

is, you know, be a good person and, you know, go for what you want. So if someone walks in the door with zero experience, after those 12 weeks, would you be comfortable putting them in a match? Yeah, so we do, right? At the end of those 12 weeks, we do our student showcase. And it airs on YouTube. I think the first one from January, man, it almost has 200,000 views. So this guy, like, there's people, it's their first match ever, has 200,000 views.

My first had 36 people, no microphone. You know, my parents were there. Like, there was no way it was getting 200,000 views. So we're trying to set these kids up for, to be as successful as possible. So you said that when you started off with AEW, you were Cody's assistant. Now your title is Director of Creative Coordination. What does a Director of Creative Coordination do? I want a title, by the way.

I mean, basically anything that deals with creative, right? So like I think I've recently taken over. And when I say taken over, all that means is that I'm overseeing and letting them do what they already do. So like Sandra with the seamstress, there's Sandra the seamstress, you know, makeup department, the extra bookings as the captain Sean Dean takes care of them. Charles Hardiman, who's in charge of like special outside projects. What happens is like I know most of the creative stuff when the week comes. so I'm able to deal with makeup and let them know like, hey, Britt Baker's going to be up first. So she needs priority when it comes to makeup.

Gotcha. Hey, private party does have a match this week. So let's make sure that their gear is ready. Just stuff like that. The extras with Sean, you know, I was doing that in addition. So it was like my emails are just flooded with obviously guys and girls that would like opportunities. And we just felt that Sean was the right pick for this as being an extra before, as being a local talent, understanding what goes into it and what that role is, right?

Because it's hard to go there with your expectations of being able to do everything you can do under the sun and then finding out your lose, you know, that, you know, you're going up against Brian Cage, for instance, right? So, you know, it might not be a long match. So, you know, and that's a hard pill to swallow for some people. And, you know, Sean's been very good at it, giving us report every week to let us know who's doing the right things, who's showing up on time, who has their paperwork. A lot of people fail in wrestling because they just can't follow directions.

And that goes, I mean, in life, right? A lot of people just can't, they can't follow instructions. Simple instructions that would get them to the promised land and they can't do it. Yeah, that is just great life advice. Follow the steps. It's pretty simple, man, you know. Let's follow directions, you know. And be a good person.

Just if we ask you to do something, just do it. You know, don't ask why. It just has to be done. Yeah. if we go back 17 years to when you're breaking into the business and you told that version of yourself that you'd be where you're at right now do you think you'd believe you no shot no shot there was no i never once even thought about working backstage um i definitely obviously there was no a ew so sure you know my goals were a little bit different um but the the main goal of being a televised

professional wrestler was always there and even when the lowest of lows that I had in my career, the neck surgeries, this, that, everything, you know, I always still believe like, okay, there is a chance. I just haven't been in front of the right people. You know what I mean? That's what I always thought it came down. I just need to get in front of the right person because I'm not the, I don't pass the blind date test is what I say to my wife all the time.

As a wrestler, when I walk out of the curtain, it's not something that you're going to, oh my God, I got to see what this person's going to do. over time you understand what I'm good at. You understand, oh, wow, this guy, again, he doesn't fumble. You know what I mean? Like everything he does, because I trained four nights a week still to this day for this. So now I would love for when I walk out of the curtain for people that, oh my God, I got to see what he does, which is why I've surrounded myself with the factory.

You know what I mean? You have Nick Comerato, Anthony Agogo, and Aaron Solo, who are all phenomenal looking athletes. Now people watch, you know. So sometimes you just got to present it the right way and build your little army. Look, I want to be super respectful of your time because you have three. Well, we listed three jobs. You're also a husband. So I guess you have four jobs.

Yeah, the most important, right? Well, yes, for sure. But I end every interview talking about gratitude. And I feel like, I mean, that just seems to be like oozing out of you with everything you're saying today. But I'm curious, what are three things in your life that you're grateful for as you sit here right now? one, my health. You know, I have had a second chance at performing. I thought and doctors that told me you're not going to be able to continue to do this. That's one thing. The second is the support that I have, whether it's through, you know, different storyline ideas or anything. You know, my wife has always been there to support and she doesn't get angry. She doesn't get upset. She understands what I have to do. So that's the second thing. And then the third thing, I guess, is just my overall success. right and believing in myself you know that was the one thing that my my mother had taught me from a

young age like just do your best you're one of the best people out there whether it's in baseball when I was growing up in high school wrestle whatever it was you know she instilled that in me don't listen to what other people think just keep going for what you want to do and eventually it'll happen and then like I said unfortunately uh certain narratives get in the way of those things which is then when you just have to say, hey, screw it and take it yourself. It's been amazing watching your journey, you know, both in the ring and behind the scenes.

So congratulations to you on everything. Thank you very much. And good to catch up with you, man. Yeah, yeah, it's been good. Like I said, I've been swamped in this match Wednesday, you know, has been, it's been good because now I'm getting to promote, but also get myself out there more, you know. Like I'm always behind the scenes.

I'm always quiet. You know, like I said, I'm always afraid of stepping up. Like I did a signing in high spots. I remember telling the guy like, this is before, you know, we created the factory. And, man, like, I hope you get any, you know, I hope you get some good pre-bys, you know. And he's like, yeah, you're doing great. Why are you think that way? And I'm just like, well, because the narrative that we've told everyone is that I'm a nobody.

You know what I mean? And which I was okay with doing because I knew deep down that eventually something like what happened to Cody and the nightmare family was going to happen. It was just a matter of time. Yeah, perceptions reality. And now you're driving that narrative. That's right. That's right.

In a 2020 Corvette. I love that you just sprinkled that in there. Yeah, I had to. Well, because when we met the last time, I had just gotten the other Corvette. And I had just gotten it, and I was excited. It was used. Oh, this is great. And then a couple weeks later, I saw the new model.

And I was like, oh, now, I need that. You know, and I don't care how much it costs. Like, I'm going for it. And I have, I think, like, one more payment to make on it. And I would have paid it all off already. So I'm excited. for that. Living your best life. You have to. You know,

you never know when it's going to end, so you might as well do it now. QT. Marshall. Marshall, that's right. Marshall. Oh. Yeah, that's all right. Marshall. Yep. Not Marshall. No, definitely. Thank you so much, man. Oh, you're welcome. It's great talking to you.

Oh, it's Marshall. I can't believe I even messed it up there at the end. So great to have QT back on the show. So great to have you back with us. for another one. And it's been so amazing watching QT slash Michael's growth both in the ring and behind the scenes. And I mentioned it at the start of the episode, but I highly encourage you to check out our first conversation. Episode 65. Wow, way back. We recorded that in person in Atlanta last January. Episode 65, we've done like almost 140 episodes since. But we do a really deep dive into who

he is as a person, who he is as a performer, and what his goals are in the business. By the way, I bought John Sina's new book called Be a Work in Progress. This is not an ad at all, but I started reading it over the weekend. And if you follow him on Twitter, you know how many insightful and inspirational thoughts and quotes that he shares on there. So instead of leaving this episode and ending this episode with a quote, I'm going to leave you with one of these inspirational tidbits from John Sina's new book, which, again, is called Be A Work in Progress.

this. He says, we tend to measure success in things, grind, or status, among other things. Measure success in joy instead. It's a much better gauge. Great book. So easy to read, too. It's just like a few sentences on each page with these great thoughts and inspirational quotes. Ah, I love it. All right. Be great. Be grateful. We'll see you on the next one for some more insight. The Hammer Alley, A 80s flashback mockumentary. Back in the 80s, there were a thousand bands trying to make it in the world of rock. But there was one band that had it all. Hammer Alley.

Whatever happened to Hammer Alley? How did they go from top of the rock? I'm looking for a music video. They're a band from 1987. Hammer Alley. Ever heard of them? To Rock Bottom. Dude, I was born in 1987.

I can't believe he's doing this. Hammer Alley. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.