Insight with Chris Van Vliet - QT Marshall on his in-ring and backstage AEW jobs, WWE tryout, Documentary, Wrestling School

Episode Date: February 7, 2020

QT Marshall sits down for an interview with Chris Van Vliet in Atlanta, GA. He talks about how he was hired by Cody for AEW, what his backstage role is, his WWE tryout, starting his wrestling school called "1 Fall Power Factory", quitting his day job to pursue wrestling, the documentary about his life "The Wrestler: A QT Marshall Story" and much more! A huge thank you to our sponsor Bet Online! Use the code BLUEWIRE at BetOnline.ag to get a 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Thanks again for listening, and now back to your regularly scheduled podcast. It's Chrysalmania, brother. That's a great question. Look at you, man. What's the powerful questions. Woo! This is the Chris Van Vlead Show. Chris Van Vlead Show.

Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Bleed! Welcome back to another audio adventure on the Chris Van Bleet Show. Thanks as always for taking the time to listen to this as you hit the gym, maybe you're on the treadmill right now. Maybe you're driving to work. Maybe you're already at work. Maybe you're walking your dog, cooking, whatever it happens to be,

I'm glad we're hanging out right now. This episode is brought to you by Bet Online, and you may not know a ton about QT Marshall right now, outside of seeing him, you know, in a few of his matches. But by the end of this interview, you're going to be so inspired by this story of perseverance and never giving up on your passion. Take a screenshot. Tag me.

Tag QT. Let us know we're listening right now. Let us know what you think of this one. And an extra big thank you for all the reviews on Apple Podcasts that you keep leaving. This is by far the most important thing you could do to help the growth of the show. And I appreciate so many of you for doing this. Also, thank you for subscribe. on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify,

wherever you happen to listen. Thank you. Just thank you for being with me on this. Thank you for being in the chair next to us as we have these conversations. This one comes from Trash Talk-Tulker. There's no A in Talker. So Trash-Tolker?

CVV is the man. Well, thank you. My fiancee introduced me to the gem that is CVV, from his YouTube channel to his podcast, there's always some sort of entertaining interview that he's conducting. If you're a wrestling fan, even a new fan, give this man a listen because you won't be disappointed. Well, thank you, Trash Talker. Appreciate that. Thank you for the kind words.

And thank you to everyone who's listening. And I really enjoyed this conversation with QT Marshall. He's a guy you've been seeing a lot of on AEW Dark lately. And if you're a diehard fan, you'll know him from his time in Ring of Honor. It was nice to find out a little bit more about his journey and to really dive into what makes him tick and how he got to where he is right now. And there's an incredible story, incredible movie about his story out right now called The Wrestler, a QT Marshall story. We dive into that and this is definitely something that you'll want to watch. If you're an aspiring wrestler, this should be like must see TV.

This should be a movie that you like have to see if you want to get into wrestling because, it shows the highs and the many lows of training to be a wrestler, going through the Indies. He has a chance with WWE that falls apart. I don't want to give too much. I don't want to give too much of the movie away, but basically it shows everything that happens on the path to trying to be a pro wrestler. And now QT's not just a wrestler. He wears many different hats for Allie wrestling backstage. But you know what?

I'll let him tell you all about. that. So here you go. Ladies and gentlemen, QT. Marshal. All right, well, that is it. So, I'm in your town. But thank you for coming to me. Yeah, it's awesome. No, I appreciate you coming to my hotel and making this happen. This is the background of what most of my interviews look like, apparently. I was very excited. Originally, I thought we could go to the school and have the wrestling rings in the background because I thought it would be a little different type of scenery, but this is just as good. This is what people are used to, I guess. Although, if I was in a wrestling school, I would want to take a few bumps. We can make that happen. I've taken bumps before.

I trained actually a little bit. Oh yeah? Yeah. It's been a while. Okay. But every time I get near a wrestling ring, I'm like, I think I got to take a couple of months. Yeah, well, we have four different rings and they all bump differently. Oh, I'll take your softest one. Yeah, that's the one that I bump in. I'm not sure to call you Mike QT. I mean, what do most people refer to you as? Most people refer to me as QT, but Mike is kind of what I like. So Mike would be best. Okay. But I just, there's so many mics in the world and QT.

Like originally we were told like, oh, get away from QT. Like that was when you were younger. Your name's Mike. You're, you're Mike. I was like, okay, cool. And then as soon as we started filming Road 2, it was like QT. Yeah. It's back.

But on being the elite, it was a little bit different, right? Yeah. It's just, I don't know. I'm a man of many names. I wear many hats and have many names. and it's easier to get through that way. And you're even wearing a hat right now. It's true.

Wow. So this hat was given to me when we first got our package for working with AEW. And it's for some reason the only hat that I like to wear. And I wear it to the gym. I wear it everywhere. My wife washes it at least twice a week. And yeah. So I don't know.

Just certain hats fit well. And this is one of them. And a lot of people are seeing these hoodies around. I mean, apparently, they don't give these out anymore because a lot of the talent are asking for these and they have to purchase them. So this is actually my second one. I lost one. Or it got stolen, I bet. Yeah, it might have got stolen, but I purchased it.

So I understand how they feel. But we do get a discount. I mean, we have an employee discount, so it's okay. Oh, well, that's solid. Yeah, it's not terrible. So for the longest time in the Indies, you were QT Marshall. That's right. But in AW, the announcer has been calling you QT Marshall.

Yeah. kind of because I didn't care. So, like, Excalibur said it at the Fighter Fest, and I was like, you know what? I don't really care. It's not that big of a deal to me. Apparently, it's a huge deal to everybody else. It's your name. So I know, but it's spelled Marshall, and Marshall was like when I was younger, I just needed

something to make me stand out from the rest of the other wrestlers. And I used to go in the ring and explain to the ring announcer like, if you call me Marshall again, I'm going to go home. And of course, the whole place would chant Marshall, which... It's great heat. It's great heat, and they remembered me. And that was my whole thing was like, okay, I have to be different. I have to stand out.

And that was like cheap heat without having to say, oh, you're ugly, you're fat, you're this, you're that, you know, or talk bad about the town. It was always about me. And that was something that I was taught at my wrestling training, make it about you, you know, or your opponent. Yeah. But if you can make it about you, make it about you. I mean, I wrestled road dog once. I had him in a chinlock and he was literally clapping and channing Marshall. Like to get the crowd into it, it was one of those shows.

So it was highly entertaining. I remember thinking like, this is absurd. Like they're chanting my name and I have him in the hold. So that's that's why he's a pro though. Yeah, 100%. So I think a lot of people are obviously familiar with seeing you, you know, wrestling in AEW, but you also work behind the scenes as well. Yeah.

Actually, I was never supposed to work in the ring, I don't think. Yeah, I was just hired. I was given the opportunity through Cody as kind of being his assistant. And what's your official title? I'm an associate producer. Oh, okay. So, yeah, I don't know what that means. I just know what my job duties are, I guess, my responsibilities.

But it originally started with just helping Cody and whatever he could do as an EVP. I'm sure there's so many things that I know how busy I was in the beginning, so I can only imagine like what he had to do. So, you know, I was just there to help him out. And then as we started actually to do things like, I think it was the ticket, the ticket press conference, the rally out in Vegas. Yeah, right. You know, everyone needed music and they all needed releases and just all this stuff that, you know, could have slipped through the cracks if he didn't tell me, like, hey, we need all this stuff. And then I had to figure out who to get it from and all this other stuff.

And it worked out. And then I kind of realized, like, oh, there's probably a lot of stuff that we're not realizing that needs to be done. done. Like, let's sit down. Let's go over that. And let's talk about it. And then at that time, I was also part-time. So I was still running the training facility for myself. But this was like a part-time thing. And it was like, hey, hopefully this can turn into something bigger. Hopefully it could become better. And, well, I was given the, I was given the ball and I didn't fumble. Well, I shouldn't say I didn't fumble. I probably fumbled. You picked it back up. I picked it right back up before anyone else can grab it. And I don't know if it's because no one else was on the field of

time. But I was able to pick it back up and continue running. So the interview that I did with Cody in May right before double or nothing, he actually dropped your name in the interview. And he's like, uh, you know, my assistant, he's going to kill me if he knows that I called him that in this interview. But Michael Killari, Kalari, right? Yeah, Kalari. Yeah. I didn't know if it was Kulari. Yeah. It's a weird. So there's an E in there that they put when my, uh, ancestors came through Ellis Island. It's not supposed to be there. My dad will not spell. it with the E, even though legally it is, it's a weird, it's a weird deal. You want to talk about hard to pronounce last names.

Yeah, yeah. CVV, that's all I need to know. That's all you need to know. Much easier. So when did you go from part time to being full time? April. So, yeah, so it was a three month. You know, double or nothing.

Yeah, it was a three month deal that they offered me. And it was kind of like a developmental contract, we'll say. And, you know, and then they realized, oh, Okay, they sat me down. I said, hey, is this something you'd want to do full time? And what else would you like to do besides just being an assistant to the EVPs? Yeah. And, you know, I had all these ideas in my head.

And I think I said, like, if the EVPs are like the Vince McMahon's, I kind of, I'm a big podcast guy. Not anymore, but because I'm too busy now. But I was a huge podcast guy. And I was like, well, if you guys are all like the Vince McMahon, I want to be like the Bruce Pritchard. I want to be like the right-hand man that basically, if you, guys are really busy. I just want to do everything. Like, and if I if it's too much, which most of the time is, I'll ask for help, you know, and there's so many people that I've met over the years that come to shows and this, that and the other that I know that I can

trust and count on. Plus, I have like 40, 50 students now that, you know, at the drop of a hat, I mean, they'll go anywhere for me and because they know that one hand washes the other. Yeah. I've, I think I've proved that to them by putting my out there and helping out a lot of people and now in return I'm being helped out greatly. Well, this is the greatest thing that I think people can take away from this in any aspect of life, wrestling or any other sort of job. Make yourself irreplaceable. 100%. A hundred percent. I do feel that, you know, of course, you always have to remain humble with that because, you know, no one's bigger than the place that they work. But if you show that

you are somebody that can be counted on, can be trusted, and you, you know, you're not. You you're good at the actual job, right? At the end of the day, as long as the job gets done and you do it the right way and you're not stepping on people to do it and all that other stuff, you know, then you then you are valuable. Well, it just comes to a point where it's like, who can do that? Ah, QT can do that. Right. Yeah, I kind of, and then if, like I, if I can't do it, I just don't tell anybody and then I figure it out, you know. Uh, fake it till you make it. That's it. That's it. That's what we do. And, and like I said, it's worked this far or so far. far and uh you know hopefully they don't ask me to do anything that I really can't do too well.

But like I said, I've been around the wrestling business since 2004 in the actual business. And then before that, uh, my mom was good friends with, uh, dangerous Dawn Marie. So we kind of had a little bit of, of knowledge before. So just it's the only thing I've ever wanted to do. And the only thing I've ever really studied. And I tell everybody this, like, I'm not good at anything else, right? Like, I can draw a little bit. I can cook because I used to work in restaurants, but wrestling is the only thing I'm good at. So let me have it, you know? Let me have this. It's been such an interesting journey, though, for you. Like, and I watched your documentary last night. Okay. The wrestler, a QT. Marshall story. And it's like, you wanted this so bad. Like,

the documentary takes place, what, four-ish years ago? Yeah, 2015. Yeah, okay. So four or five years ago. And this was when you were leading up to a tryout with WWE. Yeah, yeah. So a buddy of mine, his little brother, wanted to do a documentary about being a wrestler. He came to one of our shows at the Monster Factory, realized right away he didn't want to physically do it. So, you know, I told him, hey, well, whatever you need to do. He said, well, can I follow you? I said, yeah, sure.

So we went, we filmed stuff in Florida at my house that didn't even make the film because during the film, as he was filming, I was working for, Snap on Tools, which nobody believes. But I was working for Snap on Tools, which is, you know, my stepfather had owned three routes. So I was helping him out. You were like driving the truck. I was driving the truck, selling tools. I have never used a tool in my life besides a normal screwdriver. So here I am selling tools and like on pace to become rookie of the year in the Northeast District just because people liked me because I was a wrestler. So like, I brought something else to the table besides just, you know, shady salesman. Plus, I really didn't, I mean, my stepfather would kill me if he hears this, but like,

I knew what the bottom line price was. So I was willing to just like, hey, this is the lowest I can go. I don't like to BS with anyone. I don't like to Carney anybody. It's like, hey, the screwdrivers are $100. Like, and I can get to $80 without getting in trouble. You want them or not, you know? So, but because of that, I sold a lot of tools.

So, anyway, during that time period, I did some extra work. with WWE, and they offered me a tryout down at the Performance Center, and it was supposed to happen in September. So we went to do the extra work in May that was supposed to be in September. In the meantime, they decided to not give me the tryout. Whatever the reason was, the movie has some stuff about that, but it's all jumbled. It was the greatest thing that never happened to me, right?

Like, that's kind of, you know, I know the Rock talked about that, not making the NFL was the greatest thing that never happened to him. This was the greatest thing that never happened to me. And one, because I had a broken neck. And I didn't tell anybody that. And that's not even in the movie just because, like, I got it fixed and I didn't care about it other than that. But there's no way I would have done well at that tryout. Because when we did the, like, you know, when Danny Cage brought in Gerald Briscoe, like, they were making us do stuff there.

And I was like, I can't even do a push-up. Like, my right arm doesn't work. Because of my neck problems. Wow. And I didn't know that it was a broken neck. I just thought, like, I thought I tore my rotator cuff. So I was still wrestling. And then I was watching a documentary, you know, Chris Benoit documentary.

And he was talking about like Mr. Wonderful's arm kind of deteriorating, atrophy. So I made my wife measure my arm. And sure enough, it was an inch and a half smaller. Wow. So literally right away I called it, you know, I got it health insurance, called a doctor. doctor, set up a surgery, and when I got there, he said, so, you know, how long haven't you been wrestling? I said, man, I got a match Saturday. You know, and I did, I had a match at the ECW arena for Ring of Honor, and I was like, you know what, this will be my last match. I'll be okay

with it. Like, it'll be cool. I was supposed to wrestle punishment Martinez, there's Damien Priest, but Delirious knew that I was going to go crazy because it was my last match. So instead, he put us as a team. So it was still cool. And, and, uh, it was, It ended up not being my last match, so that kind of worked out. But, yeah, I had the surgery. And then, so that was the end of that. We didn't really go into that in the movie, but, yeah, then the movie just took off. Like, this kid put it in every film festival he could.

Then he called me one day, hey, can you come out to San Diego for Comic-Con? I was like, now I'm not a comic person. So I wanted to just see the wrestling figures. I was like, oh, that'll be cool. I'll go see that. Everyone's dresses Rick and Morty, all this stuff. So I went out there, and then we're, we're, we're, were, they screened the film, like 35 people showed up, right?

And then the next day we went back for the, you know, the results. And I remember sitting there thinking like, okay, how am I going to act like I thought that I was really going to have a chance of winning, right? Like, because I look at it like on a realistic standpoint, but I know the real story, which is what the film was, but at the end of the day, like, I didn't think about it in the way that the judges thought about it. the judges who are actors, actresses.

Yeah, they're watching it as a film. They're watching it as a film, and they're watching it as, like, the story. And the story was not a wrestling story. It was a story about a guy who was going after his dream. And there's some ups and downs,

and everybody that has ever tried to accomplish anything probably has been there before. And I know there's, like, this one scene with, you know, Cody always rips me apart for it because my wife is the nicest woman you'll ever meet. But there is a niceest woman you'll ever meet. moment where they pulled the tryout from me and her and my mother teamed up on me and just berated me and at the time like I didn't even think twice about it I was just like yeah whatever like

I'll still work I'll still wrestle on the side I'll be okay and but the people that watch that movie are like damn they were really rough on you you know I like the part where you're like well I could go work for ring of honor and they'll pay like $30,000 yeah so in 2015 that's what they were paying. I mean, now, you know, now they realize, like, they can't get away with that. Well, they got to compete. So they have to compete. But yeah, I remember thinking, like, okay, I can make, you know, 75,000 selling tools, another 30 that puts me at six figures. I'll be happy, right? I just wanted to wrestle. And I always thought, like, okay, if I have to do something else to supplement this dream, I'm willing to do it, because what else am I going to do? If we're only

wrestling on the weekends, anything, I'm not going to sit home all week. That's kind of awkward. So, Was that moment the moment where you went, maybe I can't be a wrestler. I can't live my dream. So it hit me at one point. Like I wasn't going to work for WWB, right? That was like, okay, I'll probably never work for WWE. And then I was working at a restaurant. I was running a restaurant.

And I was making really good money and easy, like easy money. And then I was like, yeah, I just can't do this anymore. And I told my wife, like, hey, I have family in Georgia, and they have, like, multiple houses, and they're willing to, like, basically let us buy a house from them. No down payment. We just got married. Oh, wow.

And I don't know what I'm going to do, but maybe we'll just move down there. There's acting down there. There's a bunch of stuff. Yeah. And, but I always knew wrestling. I wanted to do wrestling. And then I said, well, Atlanta is a very centralized location.

I can drive to any show. It's 10 hours, 10 hours. And I never did that living in New Jersey. like I wouldn't drive three hours to go to a wrestling show. So I was going to go the complete opposite route. Like I was going to go all in on it. And I was like, let's see what happens. And then I contacted Kevin Kelly, who was with Ring of Honor at the time.

And he said, well, why don't you come to our show at center stage? And you can just sit backstage and we'll give you, like we'll let you do commentary. And we'll see what happens. And then so I just, I said, yeah, can I come to the production? He said, sure, come sit down. and then I started paying attention. And then I said, man, I did an indie show down here. It was not good.

And, I mean, I was good, but the wrestling itself wasn't that great. And I remember thinking, like, I could open a school. So then I called Danny Cage from the Monster Factory. I said, maybe we should open up a Monster Factory down here. And then I didn't want a boss either, right? So, like, to use his name, I have to do what he likes to do. And, you know, we're great friends, but we kind of think a little bit differently. like he's very structured.

I'm not. It's your dream, right? Like if you wanted to be a wrestler, I'd be like, yeah, come to my school, this is what we do here. If you don't show up, it's on you.

Like, he's the opposite, right? You have to go or, and that's why his students succeed. And I'm not saying none of mine are going to, but I'm also not going to force them, right? Because they have to learn. Like, no one's going to be there to push them when they go to WW or AEW or Ring of Honor or whatever it is.

So I opened the school. And yeah, one thing led to another. And then I kind of realized like, okay, this might be as good as it gets. Like women of honor commentary and running a wrestling school. But while I run the school, I'll start running my own shows. And maybe I won't be a wrestler for these companies, but I can be a wrestler for my company. And I can teach these guys how to get better and, you know, kind of have my own little, like, performance center and my own little company.

and hopefully become a feeder system to somebody else. And I remember thinking, like, if I open my own school, I'm going to become the best coach that I could be to the point where someone's going to offer me a job, and then I'm going to tell him no. You know, that was in my head. The WV's going to call me and offer me a job, and I'm going to say no to them, you know?

What do you think is the biggest mistake that you see young wrestlers making right now? A couple things. One, because of social media, a lot of them are trying to be the flash in the pan, which is good, of course, it gets you attention. The problem is, when you get that attention, you have to be able to back it up.

And that's why, like, at our facility, we really stress the fundamentals, stuff like that, because the fundamentals will never go away. You mean, like bumping, running the ropes, like super simple stuff? Timing, just all the stuff that you need to do over and over again. And it doesn't have to be at a wrestling school, It can just be working.

Unfortunately, most of the time, you can't work five days a week. You know, so that's one of the things that I see a lot of guys and girls. They want to get the Twitter, you know, the Twitter fans going crazy. And it's like, yeah, that's great. But then when you have to have a 10-minute match, what are you going to do? You know, then you get exposed. And then, you know, and I feel bad, too, because then you get some people that, like, have been, their heads get blown up a little bit.

And it's not their fault. They're young or they're young to the business, too. And then someone sits them down and it kind of explains to them why they're not succeeding or why they're not as good as they think they are. And it's a hard, it's kind of like they're going backwards now. And, you know, we always say, like, the ride up is fun, but the ride down is not. And I've been on the ride down and now I'm kind of coming back up. So I've seen it all.

So, but yeah, that's one that I would think that's the one mistake. And then the other one is, too, not realizing that it can be done, right? and that's something that I've learned over the years, like, it might not be you, it might not be me, but somebody's going to do it. Yeah. Why not us? Yeah. You know what I mean?

Like, and I never thought that way. Now I think that way all the time. Like, what do you mean? Like, oh, well, I wanted to be an astronaut. Okay, then do it. Like, you can do that. Well, I can't. Yeah, you can.

I've always said if someone else is doing the thing you want to do, that just means there's a path that you can do it. Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. And the thing that amazes me, and I'm obviously not as involved in the rest of the role as you are, but there's these guys that want to be wrestlers and then don't work out. Yeah.

Well, I mean, I'm, that's always been an issue for me, right? Like, not working out, but dieting. But you still have a big build. Yeah, I think I've just been fortunate that, you know, I used to eat all, everyone's food at the table, you know what I mean? But now I'm trying to lean out and then, like, I'll go through phases. And I'm the worst kind of person there is when it comes to that. Like I'm a light at the end of the tunnel kind of guy.

So it's like, oh, they booked me in a match in three weeks. Okay, don't eat for three weeks. You know what I mean? The goal. Right, I need the goal. Whereas the goal was there the whole time. And that's what I preached to everyone else. Like, the goal is there, you know, and my wife is a nutritionist.

She's Cody's nutritionist. So, but she also enjoys when I get to eat ice cream. So, you know, she doesn't really help me out in that aspect. But she also, you know, she is on top of me now about it because she knows like, oh, hey, you're not really fitting in your trunks, you know. But I think for me, the charm is the fact that I'm not, you know, completely shredded and then I'm out there doing the stuff that I'm doing. I think a lot of people are like, I would have never thought he could do that, you know.

And I kind of like that, you know, I guess because it sets to bar low. I don't know if that's a, you know, if that's a good thing or not, but, you know. But maybe it makes people go, hey, I'm kind of built like QT. Sure. I could do that. Yeah. Yeah. someone said something about like a dad core i think they were calling me so and i'm okay with that like

make that a shirt because honestly at the end of the day like if that's how i'm going to connect with the audience because i think that's what i was always missing and i remember when i got put in one of the matches uh the first match in a e w i remember telling cody like hey can we tell my story on dark can we do a uh and then he came up with this whole show and he put Aubrey on he put me on it uh justin rock all these guys and girls and it let people connect with me right because I didn't want to go out there and just take random bumps like I love wrestling it's great but to go out there and get no reaction is the worst thing in the world and the reason people get no reactions I believe is because they're not connecting with the audience so the only reaction you could possibly get is by doing a cool move

well in AEW a lot of guys do really cool moves so for me to go out there and and try to replicate what they're doing. Like, I can do what Jack Evans does, right? But I can do what I do. And if the people care about me in any way, shape, or form, it'll help me out. Yeah. I just need a head start. You know what I mean?

And it kind of worked out, I guess. You know. Well, you've been working a lot more matches. Yeah. What you said, than you expected. Yeah. Are we going to be seeing more from you in 2020? All right.

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And if you're already making wagers, this is a great way to support the podcast. Again, the promo code is BlueWire. That's all one word when you sign up at betonline.org. Bring your best bets home. with BetOnline, your online sports book experts. I hope so. You know, doing that match with Cody, teaming with Cody, and then I guess, you know, I came in the back and you're trending.

And, you know, and I'm as humble as I can be. But, you know, at the end of the day, too, like I went in the locker room afterwards with my wife. And we had a moment where it was like, it was special because it's something I have worked really hard for. I did get a lot of help, right? So I feel like, you know, we cheated. a little bit, you know, I was in the ring teaming with Cody, also teaming as the guy that

isn't really that great. So when I do a couple little things, it kind of, it took everyone by surprise. So, but if that's the narrative that we're telling, I'm okay with that, right? Because at the end of the day, like, we're entertaining people. That's, that's what we're doing. But you are great in the ring. I mean, I, I'm fundamentally sound. That's the way I look at it. I'm very fundamentally sound. I have timing. Your punches are so good. Yeah, my punches. Um, punches, you know, all the stuff I can do well. And here's the other thing I've learned over the years. If you don't do it well, just don't do it.

Right? Like, if I'm a pitcher and I don't throw a good curveball, I'm not throwing a curveball. So, and that's one of the things, if going back to your other question, sometimes I think people do a lot of things that they're not great at. And in wrestling, we get to choose what we do. Yeah. So just do the stuff that you're great at. And then people will think that you're pretty good, you know?

I was surprised in the documentary when you mentioned that you speak three languages. Yeah. So, okay, I haven't spoken Portuguese or Spanish in a long time, except yesterday when we got off the ship, Cody, myself, and my wife, we went to get in a cab. Yes. And the guy was like, hey, going to the airport, whatever, and he had a shuttle. And so finally we went over there. And then I realized, like, right away that they were going to put us on with, like, a bunch of people. And not that I mine or my wife minds or even Cody minds, but there's no reason to if we can all just share a cab or an Uber, right? And, uh, or a lift. And so then all of I went over to the, to the gentleman. And in Spanish, I told him like, hey, uh, you know, is this

going to be just us? Say it in Spanish. Uh, so I went over to him and I said, you know, uh, seor, por favor, solomente, solomente three, solomente three. I was like, no, no, no, dez. I was like, no, no, only three because my, uh, my friend is famous. You know, not me, but my friend is very famous. Like, that's why security brought us off the ship. So, so Cody just kind of looked at me and I was like, yeah, because the big ongoing joke is that I don't speak other languages, right? So Brandy's always like, you don't really speak Spanish.

And I don't, but I learned in the restaurant industry and working for Disney. If you don't speak Spanish, if you don't speak Portuguese, you're not getting tipped, you know, because not that, you know, it's just not their culture. But if you give them excellent service and then you just, tell them in their language as well that the gratuity is not included, they just ask you like, oh, well, how much is like your custom, you know? And then you tell them 18%, they're like, yeah, no problem. Like, it's not that they don't want to tip you. They just don't know. Yeah. But if you don't speak to them in their language, then at the end, you just have a translator come over to

tell them that the tips not included, which a lot of people used to do to me. Hey, Mike, can you come over there and tell them the tips not included? I'm like, no, dude. Like, I watched you, literally watched them close their menu and then just, all you did was take an order. You didn't serve them, you know? So, you know, and that was one of my, okay, well, I can get a job that way. And then the W.E told me, you know, well, you're not Portuguese. You're right. I forgot. This was 100% real, you know. I could, I lived in Miami for five years, so I can relate to your cab driver store. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because, or like, I would get into an Uber leaving the airport and like, your Uber driver would never speak English. Sure, sure. And I would just be like,

I'm sorry. I'm, there. Yeah. I don't speak any Spanish. No, no, okay. I need to ride with you, apparently. Yeah, yeah. Like I said, I speak enough to get by. That's what I tell everyone. Like, if I wrestled in Puerto Rico before, so if you drop me off in Mexico, or you drop me off in Puerto Rico or any Spanish-speaking country, I can get by.

I can eat. I can, you know, I can do everyday things. Would you call the match in Spanish? So, funny story. The WWE had brought in one of Alberto del Rios friends. and at the time we were extras and William Regal used to do like this four hour speech basically telling everyone like what they expect

and then the next day you would have your match. Right. Well, he knew I spoke Spanish. He made me translate to the dude. And then I was like, oh, this will be okay though because I'll wrestle him the next day and it'll really get me over with them, right? Like, again, what can I do to help out

and make myself more valuable? So sure enough, Ricardo Rodriguez was there. So he worked with him the next day and one of the things that they always told you was like don't dive to the outside don't go off the top rope like all these rules for safety and literally the first thing the guy did was like

drop kick dive over the top rope throw him in 450 off the top and I was just like William Ringo just looked at me I was like I swear I told him not to do that you know so yeah and it was cool like the one time I was talking to what was his name

Torito El Torito okay yeah right with So I was speaking to him about his new boots before a pay-per-view. And, you know, one of the guys from W. came up behind me and was like, hey, were you talking to him? And they're like, you speak Spanish. I was like, ah, a little bit. They're like, I just watch you have a full conversation with that guy.

Like, you should let people know that you also speak these lines. But I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, I'll let someone know. And then, of course, I didn't let anyone know, you know. He was like, well, I thought he was going to say something for me, you know? I've heard this rule in the WWE tryouts that they don't want you to do anything off the top rope or dive. And you say it's for safety. I thought it was like, what can you actually do in the ring? So part of it is that.

But the other part is safety too, because they do also say like no DDT bombs, like no head bombs, stuff like that. But I think a lot of it is too, yeah, can you work? Do you have, I mean, you could tell right out the gate usually if someone has proper footwork or not. Yeah. That doesn't mean they're not going to be a great performer though. Yeah. Right? Because I've owning this facility now.

I've had guys come in and try to, like, show me what they could do, and I look at them, and I think, like, oh, this is going to be rough. And then, like, they do a fundamental drill, and it's rough. And then I make them do a match later, and I'm like, man, I was so entertained. Like, if only you could do the fundamentals, too, you know what I mean? Well, you could teach that. Right. Well, that's the whole idea is that I try to let them know, like, hey, if you want to,

like, you don't have to train with me, but you should go train. You know, wrestling is one of those things that I don't understand why we just show up for the games, you know like NFL MLB they all train yes you know and then they play the game like wrestling is like well I'm not going to train I'm just going to show up on Saturdays to do my one show a week and it's just like well okay you could do that but you should do the other stuff that doesn't mean you have to bump a hundred times a day and take crazy moves but just get in there roll around you know come up with ideas like I don't know I think if you don't if you don't go all in on it it's kind of hard to make it your life if you know you don't want to make it your life if that's

make sense. And just the more reps you get, the much further along you'll be like anything. It's like anything. If you want to believe in the 10,000 hour rule that Malcolm Gladwell talks about, like you'll get closer to your 10,000 hours by spending time doing whatever it is that you're doing. Absolutely. I believe that. Yeah, I believe I've spent more than 10,000 hours involved in wrestling. Oh, for sure. And look where it's got. Yeah. We've made it, you know, at least for now. What's been the biggest change that you've seen from where, AEW was announced almost exactly a year ago to where we sit here right now. In the industry?

Just in general. I mean, I think, you know, people are very excited, right? And they're excited about everything. And competition is always great. And, you know, I know we're competing with NXT, right? As soon as we announce our show, well, we're going to go live and we're going to do two hours. And cool, that's great. You know, I mean, especially like Punish Martinez, a great friend of mine.

We started together. So to know that he's on the opposite channel, maybe while I'm out there, you know what I mean? It's got like a little friendly competition. And of course, as long as everyone gets to succeed a little bit, right? Because I think there is enough, you know, with the NWA, with what we're doing with NXT, with, you know, whatever company it is, New Japan coming here now. Like there's enough for wrestling fans love wrestling. Yeah. So if you give them great wrestling five nights a week, most of them are going to try to make it five nights a week.

and if they can't, they're going to come four nights. So, you know, I'm a wrestling fan. I watch every type of wrestling. It could be the worst wrestling, the best wrestling. It doesn't matter. I love wrestling, you know? So. Who was it that you loved growing up?

Shaw Michaels, without a doubt. Shaw Michaels. Everyone that sits in that seat, either says Brett or Sean Michael. So my brother love Brett Hart. I love Shaw Michaels. Until the Rock. Then I was just, it was the Rock 100%, but from a wrestling,

standpoint, in-ring performance, everything, it's got to be Shaw Michaels. I think he's just one of the best. I mean, the other night on the cruise, I'd, you know, shoot reverse, and then I flipped up the turnbuckle and came back. And, you know, for a bigger guy, it's, you know, but it's because not a lot of guys can do it like he does, or he did it, you know, a lot of guys so I was like, hey, let me do that. And, you know, the guy I was worried with, you really want to do that? I was like, yeah, I definitely want to do it. Are you kidding me? Because when I do it, it looks like you're killing me and that's what I want you know I want people to feel bad when I hit that turnbuckle like that so yeah we were told when we first started take five of your

favorite wrestlers put them together take a little bit from each and that that'll create you so yeah that was what I was taught and so like my punches are from razor or moan okay uh just my all around work i would say is Sean Michaels I took a little bit from Mr. Perfect um some from triple H as well and then Randy Orton. Those are my five. Pretty good five. Yeah, those are a pretty good five. And then every now and then I'll steal stuff from, you know, from matches that I watch. Like, oh, because realistically, I truly believe that I could take a match that Shaw Michaels did with this person and kind of do the same thing and just change the moves, right? Because if the psychology works, it works. You know, it doesn't matter

what move they do. It just matters where they put it and how they react and all that stuff. So did you know Cody before you got this job working with him? So I met Cody in Ring of Honor, but in 2011, I was actually an extra with Cody on a pay-per-view. I had to bring out the, it was when he was bagging the people's heads. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So for Extreme Rules 2011, I was. Everyone can go look to something.

Yeah, yeah. I post pictures of it before. And yeah, so that's where I actually met him. So you were friendly with him. Yeah. And he was, you know, the first show here at Center Stage. He asked me to let Brandy in the back. And I was like, all right, well, I don't know.

He's like, yeah, here's her number. And I'm thinking, like, you don't know me from a hole in the wall. But hey, I'm glad. But I was wearing a suit. And that's the biggest thing. I was wearing a suit and holding papers. And I've learned if you just go backstage and you wear a suit and you have a rolled up bunch of papers, people think you're important.

And they don't think you're an extra. They actually, and you just, you know, make it look. look like you know what you're doing and you know he came to me he said hey can you help me out here and then a couple other shows he had asked me uh hey do you have any of your students here i need two butlers for this in ring segment with dalton castle sure and what do you need oh i need a tray of you know hors d'oeuv or whatever say hey guys here's money go to publics go do all this stuff like i just wanted to help and i never thought no one thought that AEW was going to happen so you know when i told him like hey man i'm just willing to help out like this is it was just cool to help out and

know that like it was being appreciated and at this at the time too brandy needed a place to train so you know she came by this facility and i told her like hey if you really like want to train more like you can come once a week like i'll meet you here and we'll get your training going and stuff like that and um you're you're the school to go to in the Atlanta area so yeah i mean there are other facilities around and i do think that we've kind of helped the training all around get better because you either have to step up or step out, right? And that wasn't my goal. Like when I first moved here,

I actually contacted a bunch of the other training places and tried to work deals with everybody because I know what kind of business this is. And I'd rather be friends with everyone then. But then I said, you know what? Like they didn't want to do it. I said, I'm just going to put my head down, keep moving forward because if I'm looking left,

I'm looking right, I'm not looking ahead. And that's the only way you can, you know, succeed is if you pay attention to what's ahead of you, you know? So yeah, I tell everybody when they get to the school, there's four things we guarantee. You're going to be trained the right way. You're going to learn how to eat the right way. You're going to work out with us the right way, and you'll learn how to cut a promo. Anything else is a bonus.

A.W, W, W, R.H. That's all because you've worked hard. Again, I don't want anyone to ever think that I'm carnying them. Cody jokes about it all the time. He thinks I give them like an AEWT shirt. They all take a picture with Cody. You know, it's like a whole thing, but it's not. And then I make sure on the paperwork that it says that they're not guaranteed anything but proper training.

What about within AEW? What kind of changes have you seen since it started? I think people have gotten more like more of an understanding that this is real, right? Because in the beginning it was like, oh, okay, well, you know, of course they sold out their first show. Of course they sold out their second show. Oh, man, they're drawing pretty good crowds. these big arenas like, man, they're beating NXT in ratings. Like, you know, we're beating NXT in ratings.

Man, this is real. Like, we really got to, now I have had guys and girls come up to me and, you know, hey, who's my coach, right? Like, who's my coach for the match? Where before they would, like, try to kind of have ideas for themselves before going to the guys that we pay great money to let them coach, you know what I mean? It's like, you know, Billy Gunn and D. Malenko and, you know, Jerry Lynn, CD, right? You know, it's kind of like, let them, they know where we need to go.

And then you have to keep, you know, stay true to who you are. But, you know, that's what they're here for, you know, and we need them because a lot of guys haven't worked TV before. I think so many of these guys are used to just, and girls are used to working their indie matches and calling it themselves. Yeah, calling it themselves and, you know, 25 minute matches where everyone shakes hands at the end. and it's easier to get over that way, right? It's a lot harder to get over in six minutes. Hey, here's a six-minute match, you know, cold match, no story. Go make it happen, you know.

And on top of that, like, this match is all CVV. It's not QT. Well, you can't tell me that because that's an awkward conversation. You know what I mean? Like, hey, we're going to do this interview, but I'm going to just say everything. You don't get to say anything. You know what I mean? Right.

It's like, well, then I don't want to do the interview. And that's how most people are in wrestling. Like, well, then I don't want to do that match, you know? Whereas if it's explained to them the right way, like, hey, this is where we're going right now, but yada, yada, yada, yada, you know, like me. Like, hey, you're going to be in this match with Orange Cassidy and best friends and team with the Beaver Boys. And I remember thinking, like, really?

My first ever TV match is going to be a two minute, you know, three minute Rick and Morty squash. And then I was like, you know what? I know Orange Cassidy. I know these guys and I know what they do. And how about we make it a moment? and why don't I be the one in the ring doing this stuff with orange and getting millions of views? You know what I mean?

And if nothing else, at least I got millions of views. So, but it's worked out, you know. Orange Cassidy is so over. Yeah, it's unreal. It is unreal. I don't, I want to say I don't get it, but I do get it, you know? It's just I know if no one else gets it, right? And they don't have to get it.

It's like when, you know, Cody made me go watch Star Wars one night. And I've never seen Star Wars before, and fans, please don't hate me for it. But the most recent one? The most recent one. Okay. And, uh, now, that's not a good place to start. No, well, he did make me watch the originals. Oh, wow.

And I did watch him when I was younger, but like, I didn't really care because I was probably thinking about baseball or wrestling. And so we went to watch this new one. And it's just one of those things. Like, I don't get everything, right? And I don't get the allure of all this stuff. But at the end of the day, like, I'm not a Star Wars fan. So it's okay, right?

It's okay. It's okay if you don't love what you're seeing. That doesn't mean, you know, uh, that you, uh, that you, No one's forcing you to watch it, right? Like, I mean, he kind of forced me to watch it, but he did because he wanted me to understand the story. And, you know, we had a good time. We all went out together.

It wasn't like he just made me go there by myself and watch the movie. But, you know, Orange Cassidy, some of the things in AEW, some of the things on, NXT, WB, Ring of On are like, you don't have to like everything. And that's what's great about pro wrestling is, you know, you find what you like. You really watch what you like. And that's why a lot of people DVR stuff.

I know there's certain things. I don't even like watching full-on page. paper views because I know there's certain things I just probably don't want to sit through, you know, and it's easier to just fast forward. Lots of flavors of ice cream. Of course. Of course. Yeah.

And even vanilla still works, you know? That's why I try to explain everybody, you know. So if you're saying, you know, you don't want to look right or look left, you want to look straight ahead. What are you looking straight ahead to right now? So I would love to regularly wrestle, right? Everyone always says, like, oh, well, you know, I want to be a world. champion. Of course, yeah, 100,000 percent, I would love to be a world champion one day. That takes a lot

of work. And the one thing I always told everyone at AEW is that if I have this other job, I don't want the in ring work to affect this other job. So it's just about, in 2020 is about getting more opportunities little by little, but still balancing out this job that I have, which I think is more valuable to the company. Right. Like personally, I would love, to wrestle all the time and not worry about anything else. But for the company, for my professional life, I think this is more important. And there's more longevity here as well. And that's what everyone keeps telling me, JR and Tony Chivine. Like, there's more longevity here. Yeah, I get that, guys, but, you know, I want to be out there, you know? And so it's just about finding that balance.

I think that's what 2020 for me is all about. And I'm still, we just structured like a wrestling contract for me so where I can still do some independent shows and stuff like that. And I think, yeah, I think there's stuff that I never got to do that I'd like to do. You know, and now that I have the backing of being on TV and having that behind me now, I guess it'll be easier to get those opportunities maybe or I have a little more pull, you know? For sure. And I can, you know, pick and choose what shows I want to do and stuff like that and who I want to work with. And so I'll never publicly put a list out there, but, you know, of course, there are some guys and girls that, you know, I'd like to work with, or at least be on shows with, because I think maybe they

bring stuff to the table for our company that we might never get a chance to give them those opportunities. But if I can get on a show with them and work with somebody like a, throw out your favorite independent wrestler, because I don't want to say anybody and I don't want to say anybody and let them think that they're getting a job. Matt Cross. Okay, Matt Cross. If I could work with Matt Cross and then go back and say, like, hey, guys, now I'm a lot. They already know who Matt Cross is, but if I go back there and say, like, man, I spoke to him afterwards. And not only did we kill it in the ring, what a guy that guy is, you know, like we really need someone like him. And you know what?

Cody, can I book him for this show? Can we figure out a way to get him in the door? Stuff like that. You know, and it's, if I can do stuff like that, that would kind of, it helps me out a lot too. Because, again, I like giving back. And I know a lot of people say that. And originally I didn't, right? Like 10 years ago, oh, man, I wouldn't give back.

for anybody, right? Like, it was all about me, me, me, me, me. And then I only got to a certain level. And now, like, it's all about everyone else. It's funny how something happens when you hit to hit your 30. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 20s is all, I was the same way. It's all about, like, what's best for me. Sure, sure. And then you hit 30 and you're like, there's more to life than just yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's, it's, I feel, I hate to admit it. I know, yeah. I hate to admit that, because I wish it was still all about me, but it's not, you know, and it's, uh, but again, like I said, the I've succeeded more by helping others. Yeah.

Tony Robbins says the secret to life is giving. Okay. It's like. Are you a Tony Robbins guy? I love Tony Robbins. Okay. So I'm an E.T. the hip-hop preacher kind of guy.

Oh, okay. Great. Me too. I like him all. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm very, uh, that I've, so people ask me all the time, like, what do you listen to? I listen to him. I listen to him. When I work out, I listen to, uh, there's another gentleman, Inkey Thomas.

He's a guy from Atlanta, actually, who got, uh, you know, like his right side got paralyzed at the University of Tennessee. And I like it because they have like hip hop beats in the background. Yeah. You know, it's not just like somebody talking. There's like cool music and it, you know, my wife, I don't think she's all into it at all. But, you know, she was like, are you listening to that again? And I'm like, yeah, because it's a true story.

Like, it's something I can relate to. I botched the Tony Robinson. It's the secret to living is giving. Okay. Oh, it's supposed to rhyme. Okay. So he's like a hip hop guy too. And he just doesn't know it.

I first learned about ET with the, uh, If you want to, you need to want to succeed as bad as you want to do. Of course. Of course. Yeah, that was the famous one. The viral video. I got goosebumps. Wow.

I get goosebumps just thinking about it. Yeah. It's the truth. I mean, you literally, I think in anything you want to do, you have to put everything forward and put it there. And at the end of the day, if it doesn't happen, honestly, there's no excuse. Like, it should happen. Yeah.

If you do it, it'll happen. And the thing is, even if you don't end up at the exact spot where you thought you'd be, you're going to be further along than if you hadn't tried. Of course. Like, you know, if we loop it back around to the start of like the best thing that never happened to you. Sure. And now look where you are.

Yeah. I mean, and I have friends that gave up that are contacting me now. And I'm like, man, I don't know what you want me to tell you. Like, you fell off the face of the earth. And you didn't like, you left wrestling. You know what I mean? It's not like I left in ring performing, but I stayed involved in wrestling because at the end of the day, even if I had to go work at Publix and become a manager at Publix, as much as I would have

hated that part of my life, I had my wife that I grew up always wanting, and then I had something involved in wrestling. And I was okay with that. Now, it turned into a lot more than that, and I'm, I never want to go back to the other stuff, but, you know, at least, like, I always tell everyone, at least, you know, don't give up, right? There's no reason to because why. You know, I never understood that. Like, even my mom and wife were yelling at me. Like, oh, just you should quit. Just go do something else. You can do all this other stuff. Yeah, I could do whatever I want to do. Like, literally, I think that. Like, and that's very arrogant to think that kind of way. But like, I genuinely believe there I could do anything I want to do if I just put my mind to it. That's just, that's just how

life is. Sure. It's possible. And too many people just end up giving up. Yeah, 100%. You know, I don't think I'd be a, a great interviewer. I'll be honest with that. You, you absolutely. could be a great interview. Maybe. We'll have to team up one day for AEW. Done. Yeah, there you go. Yeah.

It's just a matter of putting in the time. Sure. Because if you watch my first bunch of interviews, and please don't, by the way, they're not great. Okay. And I think that the biggest thing that I learn and people always, you know, comment about this is I let my guests talk. And I realize that it's not about me.

I'm giving someone the time and the platform to tell their story. Yeah. And the second I realized that, sure, my name might be on the mics and my name might be on the channel, but no one is coming to this channel to see me. Right. Yeah, that's true. That's true. And the second I realized that, everything changed. Yeah. Well, you figured it out, so that's good. And you have as well. Yeah. Yeah, I think, I think I'm still learning, but yes, I think it's incredible that I get to sit at a round table with, you know, Jim Ross and Tony Chivani and Dean Milanko and all these guys. And I could see, like, when we first started, they're just looking at me like, who the F is this?

you know what I mean? Right. And because I'm not the type that keeps my mouth shut either. Like, hey, why are we doing this? Like, we should be doing this. And like, what is this guy saying? You know? And like, hey, QT, kind of chill out, man.

Like, or, hey, you know, let them speak. And I'm like, I'm sorry. I just get excited. You know, I get excited and I'm passionate about it. You know, and if, again, like I always say, if you hate me because I'm passionate about it, we're never going to see eye to eye. Yeah.

Right? But I'll never go behind you. your back. I'll never, like I say, carney anybody. Like it's always, if I want something, I'm going to come to you. I'm going to say, hey, how do I get this? Oh, well, that's not in the cars. Okay. Well, how do we make it in the cards? Well, it can't be in the cards. Okay, well, don't tell me you can never happen because it's, it can happen. We just got to figure it out. Like, do I have to do this to get that. Whatever it is, I'm willing to do it. And if I'm not willing to do it, and it's not that important to me. Yeah. So I just want to acknowledge you for not giving up.

And for chasing after it. Because there's so many people that would have. of, you know, saw the path in front of them was difficult and went, yeah, you know what, I'll just take the easy route and just do that. And I think that anyone that's looking to get into the wrestling business as a wrestler or anything else should check out your film because it's a true story about like how difficult it is. Yeah. Yeah, it was not a good time in my life, but again, like I said, it was the greatest thing to never happen to me because I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be wearing this great sweatshirt or this hat. And hat, yeah. I wouldn't be, you know, I wouldn't be, you know, enjoying my life as much as I'm enjoying it now.

You know, these past two weeks, I've been to Miami and on the Rock and Rager wrestling at sea. You know, I've got to wrestle three times in front of that audience, which is just awesome, you know. So where can people find the film? Amazon.com. I know that because somebody ordered me like 30 copies, and I just got them in the mail one day, I think, as a rib. There you go. You know, so they're just sitting upstairs in my room. So does that mean it's also streaming on Prime?

It's streaming on Prime, and it's like super cheap if he stream it. I think like $2.99. I know Jericho streamed it a couple weeks ago. Which was cool because then. And I just streamed it. Yeah, so it was cool because then he got to kind of, he's another one who like had no idea, like who I was or what I did before this. And why is he, you know, why am I doing what I'm doing backstage? So that was really cool.

And, yeah, they're best buy. I mean, it's kind of like everywhere, Barnes & Noble.com. So I don't know how they do it whether, you know, you order it from there and then they go to the distributor. I have no idea. You don't need to know. I don't need to know. I don't get anything from it. You know, like this kid gets hopefully, it's his dream to become a major director.

So it was my way of literally helping him out. Giving back. And giving back. And it turned into, like, I remember him telling me, this is going to be the greatest thing that, you know, for you and your career. And I was like, yeah, whatever, dude, I'm never going to show anyone this documentary. Sure enough, it became the real. reason why I'm sitting here. Wow. Well, congratulations on everything. Thank you. Thank you for coming to me. I'm glad we were able to make this happen here. That's awesome. And I hope that people take a lot out of this

conversation because you've set the example for hard work can get you anything that you want. And a little bit of luck, a little bit of luck and putting yourself in the right place at the right time. That's also important. When you have, uh, how do you say it? I always tell everyone. Being in the right place at the right time, but when the opportunity comes, be prepared. There it is. Thank you so much. Thanks, Chris. Appreciate it. There you go, my friend.

QT. Marshall. I love how much you learn about it. Please, take a screenshot. Let me and let QT know what you thought about this on Twitter and Instagram. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And I can't recommend his film enough. Once again, it's called The Wrestler, a QT Marshall story.

And it gives just such a raw and intimate look into what it takes to become a pro wrestler. It shows the highs. and, if I'm being honest, the many lows. But what's great here is everything that he went through, all of those paths led him here to his job in AEW, where he gets the best of both worlds now. He's doing some great stuff backstage and helping to build the show every single week,

and he still gets to be in the ring. It's the perfect job. I know that he's really enjoying it, and I'm enjoying seeing him do his work. And I love the quote from The Rock that QT brought up during this interview. It's actually something the Rock said to me during one of the interviews that I did with him. If you want to look up that interview, it's the interview where he gives me the middle finger on the red carpet at the premiere for ballers.

Yeah, good times. It's actually a hilarious video. The thumbnail will make it seem like he's giving me the finger because he doesn't like me. But it's all just the Rock being the Rock. But this is a quote that when he said it then, really stuck in my head. and I think about it often because it's so true. We have this idea in our mind of what our life's supposed to be like, and then we realize that, hey, this other thing over here actually might be better for us.

So here's the quote from the Rock. This is the direct quote from the interview. I'm sure the Rock said it many different times in many different ways, but here's the direct quote from my interview. Sometimes things don't happen. And when they don't, they can be the best thing that never happened. So think about that. as you continue today.

Appreciate you listening. A big thank you to QT Marshall for doing this interview and a big thank you to you for being here on the Chris Van Vleet Show. The Hammer Alley podcast, an 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 then? 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.