Last night, as fans were preparing for CM Punk to deliver his first WWE comments in nearly ten years, another star announced they were leaving AEW: QT Marshall. The QTV leader revealed in a social media post that he was resigning from the company and would wrap up all his obligations at the end of the year.
Marshall is a close friend of Cody Rhodes’ and helps run The Nightmare Factory training school alongside him. Shortly after AEW was launched, Marshall was brought into the promotion to work as a talent and backstage producer. At one point, Marshall worked as AEW President Tony Khan’s right-hand man, helping to piece together AEW shows based on what Khan wanted to see.
Haus of Wrestling has learned that following Rhodes’ departure from AEW, Marshall’s backstage influence began to deteriorate quickly. While still liked by many, others closer to those in power were given a chance to work alongside Khan. At the same time, Marshall had become vocal about his desire to work as an in-ring performer rather than a backstage coach. Due to those reasons, everyone I have spoken with in AEW and WWE since Marshall’s announcement last night has not been surprised by his decision.
Curiously, one of the reasons he listed for his AEW resignation was that he felt the company had changed since its inception in 2019 and was now moving in a new direction. Based on those I have spoken with close to Marshall, he was alluding to the fact he believes AEW is heading in a more NJPW-related direction that is more focused on matches than storytelling. When asking around about why Khan is going that way, one source told me flatly, “TK has always liked that style.”
As for what Marshall wants to do now, I am told he is focused on having fun, wrestling, and improving as a performer. Many we spoke with believed that Marshall, being good friends with Rhodes, could be in a position to move into a coaching role at the WWE Performance Center. However, when speaking to those close to Marshall, I am told he is primarily interested in wrestling for WWE, as he has his own successful school where he can train talent. At the moment, he does not believe that WWE will allow him to wrestle and coach, which he may be open to if it were an option.
Those we spoke with close to the WWE side said they were skeptical that WWE would be interested in hiring Marshall strictly as a performer but were unsure of how much pull Rhodes has at the moment. One person we spoke with relayed how Marshall was hesitant to take some moves the last time he worked for WWE due to issues with his neck. That said, his creativity was highlighted as a plus, and a coaching role was not ruled out, but it was also mentioned how many quality people the company already has in backstage roles.
I’ll speak more on Marshall’s AEW exit on today’s episode of Rumor & Innuendo. Streaming live at Noon EST before being uploaded to all podcast platforms.