QT Marshall Recalls Lying To Shaq About His AEW Dynamite Table Spot
Like many on the AEW roster, QT Marshall wears many hats. The decade-long veteran wrestles and produces matches while also maintaining his position as a co-owner and trainer at the Nightmare Factory.
Before his television feud with Cody Rhodes kicked off, Marshall spent most of his AEW hours training talent. It was during one of his training sessions that Marshall sparked an All Elite relationship with an NBA Hall of Famer.
"We were training Jade Cargill and she's friends with Shaq," Marshall told Stephanie Chase of Digital Spy. "And he showed up one night and he was just hanging out and I looked over at him and said, 'So, when are you going to get in here?' He started laughing and he's like, 'I've already been there, I did some stuff,' this, that and the other, then we actually spoke he was like, 'I'd love to do something.'"
QT went on to say he told Shaq he'd be able to train him for a match in just 10 sessions, with his training happening at 11 o'clock at night because of Shaq's busy schedule.
Marshall promised Shaq that he'd have him in-ring ready in just ten sessions. Lucky for Marshall, the seven-footer had little trouble adjusting.
"He picked up on it very quickly. He's a wrestling fan, so the moment that you asked him what he wanted to do, he already had a whole list of things that were in his mind that he was going to do to somebody," Marshall said. "And it was just about teaching him the right way to do it without hurting himself."
Shaq would go on to have a mixed tag team match alongside Jade Cargill against Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. The match concluded with Cody hitting a crossbody on Shaq, sending the two through two tables on the outside.
According to Marshall, the table spot was Shaq's idea. Sort of.
"He said something about maybe going through some tables and I told him, 'Oh it won't be that bad, we'll put a really thick pad underneath,' which was not true. I just didn't want him to back out of it," Marshall said. "So it was a lot of fun, as soon as he came in the back, right away, he said, 'You lied to me! There was no pad under there!' That's wrestling, welcome to wrestling."