QT Marshall explains what led to his unexpected AEW departure (Exclusive)
Former WWE star QT Marshall recently revealed why he left AEW last year.
QT Marshall is one of the most influential stars in the Jacksonville-based promotion. He has worked as a producer, in-ring talent, coach, and the Vince President of Show and Creative Coordination in All Elite Wrestling. Marshall has a great bond with AEW CEO Tony Khan, which might be one of the reasons behind his recent return to the company.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Bill Apter, QT Marshall reflected on his AEW run and talked about his decision not to renew his contract.
"I started from day one I was Cody Rhodes' assistant, and I worked all the way as hard as I could behind the scenes in hopes to get as far as I could all the way to Vice President, and then what happened was ideally, I became a talent at the same time. During the pandemic, I was offered a talent contract, and that was legally the only thing binding me to AEW, so right about August of 2023, my contract was coming up...right before All In, and I had given my notice that I was gonna leave and wrestle. I had some other things I wanted to do, and then Tony and I spoke and he was like, 'Why don't you stay? and maybe I could do something with you more as the AAA Light American Champion and stuff," said Marshall.
The 38-year-old veteran added that he had talks with the former President of TNA/IMPACT Wrestling, Scott D'Amore, and also had plans to work with Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling.
"Ideally, I didn't know what I was really gonna do. I had spoken to Scott D'Amore over at IMPACT, and maybe I was gonna go do something for them, and Tony was understanding over all of that stuff. So I signed this extension, and then came time for the end of the year, and Tony and I kinda spoke a little bit about stuff, and the biggest thing was I didn't want to sign a long-term contract, but because of that, I had to resign from the job itself. Because I couldn't do one or the other, so it was like, 'Hey, I gonna resign, I have this idea to do Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling.'" [From 02:34 to 03:53]
QT Marshall demands a change from AEW after his return
AEW star QT Marshall wants the Jacksonville-based promotion to update their recently returned 'Rankings' concept.
The owner of the company, Tony Khan, recently announced the return of the AEW Rankings system. The concept was reportedly abandoned because of CM Punk, who advised Khan to get rid of it.
In response to a fan on Twitter who complained about the ranking system not being up to date, QT Marshall sent an interesting message to the company.
".@AEW can you please share the rankings? AL is very upset that he needs to know what changed since the last time they were posted. Thank you in advance!" Marshall requested.
The rankings concept is one of the most interesting things about All Elite Wrestling, which helps keep track of the win/loss record of the talents. It helps the company be different from other wrestling companies.
Do you want to see QT Marshall be involved in a storyline in All Elite Wrestling? Let us know in the comments section below.
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