QT Marshall shares ambitious plans for the revival of Dusty Rhodes' Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling (Exclusive)
AEW's QT Marshall recently spoke to Sportskeeda Wrestling's Bill Apter and spilled the beans on the relaunch of Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, a company founded by the late great Dusty Rhodes in 2000.
The American Dream's legacy in professional wrestling goes beyond his generational work as an inimitable performer for WWE and during the territorial era. After he left the WCW following the promotion's demise, Dusty Rhodes saw the need to provide young wrestlers from the famed Power Plant a place to continue honing their skills. This need led to the birth of Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling.
Having been introduced to TCW by his first business partner, former WCW star Glacier, QT Marshall quickly immersed himself in the company's history and how Dusty Rhodes pumped in his finances to establish the promotion in Marietta, Georgia.
The story pulled QT Marshall in, and he wished to resume Dusty's noble work by providing wrestlers with a platform.
"This was always an idea that I had because I just liked the idea of the story that was behind it. Dusty left WCW, and the Power Plant had closed down, and he was able to help these guys and girls. The talent, in general, had nothing to do. The school closed down. He used his own money, his own popularity, and his fame to draw people to help these younger guys and talents do really well and continue their dreams. I thought that is such a cool story that probably has never been told." [4:08 - 4:57]
Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling features students from The Nightmare Factory, where QT Marshall has trained aspiring talents for years.
The revival of TCW, however, isn't just about remembering Dusty Rhodes and his purpose but also about getting the brand back with a "twist." QT Marshall opened up about an event they recently presented with a high-production value and said fans can find them on their social media channels.
The 38-year-old star intends TCW to stay in one location and organize events, which could potentially be streamed in the near future.
"So we did one event, and it was full-on production. It was about luckily; we had a couple of favors come in from a production company, and so on and so forth. But it was a very high-budget production, and now, we're in the process of buying all the equipment and building it and leaving it so it will become our own arena so we can run events once a month and so on and so forth. We can then either stream them. We have some ideas, and it's just a matter of what actually sticks." [06:40 onwards]
QT Marshall has been working towards getting Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling back since 2020
Amongst the few people who've been in AEW since day one is QT Marshall, who has donned various roles since 2020 and briefly left the company, only to return as a VP in February 2024.
QT Marshall has several aspirations as an executive and active talent, but he also has dreamt of promoting the resurrected Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling for a long time.
QT recalled how he'd been working on the idea for four years and, for multiple reasons, couldn't officially get TCW back on the map.
"So, this was something I had thought about in 2020. I had created logos for it and everything. We really couldn't do anything because of AEW and just the situations we were in and so forth. Now, fast forwarding to now, we have a building that can be an arena. We transformed it, and we're able to do an event out of there, a Turnbuckle event." [03:36 - 4:07]
While the biggies in WWE and AEW continue to reap the benefits during a supposed pro wrestling boom period, the arrival of historically significant promotions like Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling is also tremendous news for the business.
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QT Marshall talks about CM Punk and his return to WWE. Check out his comments below.