QT Marshall Discusses What It Was Like Training Matt Riddle
QT Marshall was both a wrestling alumni and a trainer at the famed Monster Factory wrestling school in New Jersey. He worked under owner Danny Cage there and Marshall opened up about his relationship with Cage when he joined The Wrestling Inc Daily podcast.
"When I first started in 2004, he was just retiring from wrestling as he had a serious back injury. When I moved back to New Jersey after I signed with ROH, I was just looking to stay in shape. I also wanted to help him out because he had just taken over the Monster Factory. I told Kevin Kelly to make sure you mention that I'm from The Monster Factory, just trying to help out his business," said Marshall.
"Once I realized I wasn't going to be active in the ring full-time anymore, I said, 'Hey, do you mind if I help out a little bit?' He then asked if I could coach and one thing led to another. I enjoy teaching so it's a real fun part of the business as well."
Among the many notable wrestlers to pass through the Monster Factory is Matt Riddle who joined after leaving MMA. Marshall discussed training Riddle and how easy he took to the sport.
"He was a prodigy because he was a giant fan of pro wrestling which helps. He also wasn't getting smashed in the face like he was in UFC so he was really easy to coach," stated Marshall. "He was a little knuckleheadish with some of the stuff he did back then but he's a good kid."
He added that four months into training, Riddle and Marshall had an 18-minute match which proved that Riddle was a natural. Marshall also praised Riddle for being confident and not scared of anything.
"He's not just a 'yes man' and if you're a 'yes man' all the time, it's great but you're not happy. Then it will end up coming out in the end and you can't have that happen," said Marshall.
Eventually, Marshall relocated from New Jersey to Georgia and he discussed how Cage reacted to him leaving the Monster Factory.
"I was actually gonna open up a Monster Factory in Georgia and that's kinda what we discussed. But then there's legalities and using people's names and LLCs. So, I said it's not worth it to me to do that. Also, he built a brand and I didn't wanna be responsible for messing up his brand because we have very different philosophies on training," revealed Marshall.
"As a coach for him, I would follow his philosophies. But in my own facilitiy I'm gonna do what I do. Plus, I didn't wanna have a boss. So, I moved down here and I have family down here. We packed up, moved down and opened up the facility and it's been great. That led to me meeting Cody and Brandi because I was still doing some backstage stuff with ROH, almost like interning. Brandi needed a place to train and Cody saw the doc and saw my passion for pro wrestling. He offered me an opportunity and the rest is history."
Q.T. Marshall is featured in the documentary "The Wrestler: A Q.T. Marshall Story" which is now available now via Amazon Prime. Q.T. can also be seen every week as part of AEW Dark and AEW Dynamite. QT's full interview aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.