"We were writing shows up till 7 am" - 38-year-old star opens up on his relationship with AEW President Tony Khan (Exclusive)
A former AEW star recently discussed his relationship with the company's CEO, Tony Khan.
The star in question is none other than QT Marshall, who became a free agent after he departed All Elite Wrestling in November 2023. Marshall revealed that he spoke to numerous promotions including WWE and TNA, but returned to All Elite Wrestling as the company allowed him to wrestle in the Indies.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling's Bill Apter, QT Marshall recalled his conversation with Tony Khan and also spoke about the relationship he has with the CEO.
"So basically, I flew out to Jacksonville to talk to Tony and explained what I wanna do with the turnbuckle stuff. I could go to the Indies, wrestle all the time, and go from Massachusetts on Friday to San Diego on Saturday and back somewhere else on Sunday. I could do that and I might do that because that's kind of the benefit I have with working with AEW and that's the biggest thing, there's freedom and there's great pay which I've earned."
Marshall continued:
"So it's like 'Hey I did step away' and the direction that AEW was going in at that moment when Tony and I had our discussion which would've been in Oakland on November 10th. That's when I spoke to him and let him know that I was gonna be staying home. So it's not like at the end of November I put out a statement and that was like the first anyone has heard about it, I had been sitting home for weeks. Tony and I have a very different relationship than many people do, he and I were in the trenches together during the pandemic, we were writing shows up till 7 am, and doing stuff." [5:49-7:08]
QT Marshall speaks about his run in AEW, his talks with WWE, and Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling in the video above.
Tony Khan praises Sting ahead of his retirement match at AEW Revolution
Tony Khan recently spoke about The Icon Sting, who will be competing in his final wrestling match at AEW Revolution 2024.
Speaking with Mike Peticca of Fanatics View, Tony Khan praised Sting and spoke about his last days as an in-ring performer.
"I love having Sting come in and brainstorm with us. Also, working with Sting, he's one of the most selfless people and I find that I have to push him sometimes and have to remind him, 'You're Sting, it's all about you!' So, I do feel that this run of Sting being undefeated and what he's done here in AEW is very special," Tony said. "I'm sad that it's coming to an end. I'm very sad that Sting will be retiring, but it's remarkable that Sting is out there over 60 years old."
Khan further added:
"Sting is doing more crazy things in his 60s than he's ever done before," continued Tony. "Sting in AEW is this extreme version of Sting. He has gone from being 'The Franchise,' 'The Icon,' to a Hardcore icon, and some of my favorite Sting matches of his entire career, and I say this just as a wrestling fan, not only is the owner of AEW, I honestly mean this from the bottom of my heart: I think some of the best Sting matches he's ever had have been in AEW and that's one of the greatest careers of all time." [H/T - Fightful]
Sting will be defending his World Tag Team Titles with Darby Allin against Nicholas & Mathew Jackson at the Revolution PPV. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the match as the PPV will be held in Sting's hometown.
What is your favorite match of Sting in All Elite Wrestling? Let us know in the comments section below.
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You can also check out this video on what Vince Russo thinks about how Tony Khan feels about his promotion's ratings: