QT Marshall talks about his relationship with Big Boom! AJ and how their match at the AEW Full Gear: Zero Hour came to be.
QT Marshall will be wrestling in singles action against viral TikTok star Big Boom! AJ on the AEW Full Gear: Zero Hour. While most in the world know AJ for his social media success, he was actually a professional wrestler on the independent scene several years ago, and happily passed the torch to a young QT during his first-ever independent wrestling event at the famed Monster Factory in New Jersey.
During an interview with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, Marshall explained how his relationship with AJ began, and how they kept in touch leading to the upcoming match at the Prudential Center on November 23.
"My first-ever independent show at the Monster Factory was his last. He was retiring and he bestowed his babyface run to me, as a babyface. ‘This wrestling company is going to be in good hands because I got Bulldog Mike Cuellari and he’s going to be the next guy.’ We always stayed in touch," said Marshall. "Sonjay worked with him on the indies and Sonjay brought him up. I said I had his number, let’s give him a call. We invited him to All Out, and I knew, this is where the worker in me comes in, I knew as a professional wrestler and you’re always a professional wrestler. I just had to convince him to get back in the ring. If I could do it and sell him on the idea, do it in his hometown in front of his friends and family and son, what a moment it could be. Maybe we do a tag match where I do the heavy lifting. Then, of course, my plan all along was to do one-on-one. I don’t want to share the spotlight and I don’t want him to share the spotlight. Would they cheer me? Maybe, but we stay in the lanes we’re good at.
"We were able to make it happen and from the time we made the agreement, right after All Out to now, it has blown up quadruple the amount," he continued. "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, just to say my name on there, I was like, ‘This is more than we could have ever asked for.’ The announcement of The Rizzler. Part of it is that we didn’t want to take up a lot of TV time. One, because the fans following are not our fans. Let’s put it on socials and see how it does. Also, then there’s not a lot of pushback from people in the company. It is completely different from everything else on the TV show. There’s always going to be positives and negatives, but we stayed in our lane, did it on social, and make the audience want us to put it on TV."
Marshall explained how this philosophy falls in line with other angles. He's been a part of in AEW. He said that he was always comfortable getting something on a perceptively lower platform, such as AEW's former YouTube shows, AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation. Marshall has had no problem attempting to generate genuine interest in his programming first before taking up time on major programming. Also, Marshall says the agreement was always that the match would take place on the free-for-all Zero Hour so that fans of the TikTok star would be able to watch the match without paying extra.
"I’ve always been like that. If I wanted to do an angle, let’s do it on Dark and Elevation. Let’s build it up to the point where fans are asking for it on the main show," he said. "Instead of just sitting back and going, ‘I don’t want to do anything if I’m not on the main show.’ No. Any opportunity is a great opportunity. That’s what we did. We always had the agreement it would be on Zero Hour and be free for his fans so they could see it. Just stay in his lane. We’re more than happy with what they’ve been able to bring to the table. He’s super professional. I can’t wait to embarrass him and show him, ‘You were okay 20 years ago, but you’re definitely not God’s gift to professional wrestling.’ It’s going to be a spectacle nonetheless. I know he’s really helped the ticket sales and bringing mainstream publicity to it. It’s everything you could ask for. The fact that he was a wrestler before this helped. It helped get into the endzone. We’re at the one-yard now."
Speaking about any potential criticisms of the story straying so far from AEW's mission statement of "This is where the best wrestle," Marshall would say that with AJ's background as a professional wrestler, the story is in line with the original mission statement of AEW which was all about helping independent wrestling stars get an opportunity on a big stage. It just happened to take two decades for AJ to reach that pinnacle.
"At the end of the day, I don’t love every segment on every show I watch," he said. "I understand there is a business at hand and a rhyme and reason why people do everything. If they don’t understand it, that’s okay. We’re not going to sit there and explain the inner workings of the wrestling industry to them. We’re putting on a TV show. It’s easier for me to circle the number of views and post that instead of trying to explain the entire wrestling industry to some people. Is it different that what we normally do? Sure, of course. What AEW was when it first started, it was an alternative that took a lot of independent wrestlers that didn’t get their chance at WWE to get an opportunity on a big stage. That’s literally what this is, just 20 years later. It just so happens that he has an amazing following and a lot of viewers willing to click on everything that he posts. I thought it was a win-win."
Speaking more broadly about the decision to put the match on the pre-show, Marshall stated that it was initially a little hard to get Tony Khan to sign off on the idea at first, but feels that he has enough of TK's trust that it's understood he would never do anything to ruin the show that follows the match. Marshall is also hopeful that the free nature of the Zero Hour will get first-time viewers to stick with AEW moving forward.
"My idea was, I don’t want to go on last. I want to be in the middle somewhere, so people tune in, but we also promote the rest of Zero Hour and put something on after that is incredible and AEW-branded," said Marshall. "Hopefully, we get people that are first-timers to tune in and say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know there was another wrestling company out there. This is incredible. Now, I have to buy this pay-per-view’ or ‘I have to tune in Wednesday to Dynamite.’ It’s a risk, but not a huge risk. The reward is well worth it. It’s been proven over the years that adding mainstream publicity to your wrestling show can really help out. To us, it was a no-brainer. Getting Tony to sign off on it was a little hard at first, but he understood and I think there is trust between him and I to where I’m not going to go into business for myself and ruin the television show.
We’re very focused on wrestling, and we should be, because we’re All Elite Wrestling, but there is...I don’t want to say a cap to how many people want to watch wrestling, but it is what it is," he continued. "How do we get new viewers? Once you do watch an AEW show, if you go to a live AEW show. You’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, I have never seen stuff like this before in my life.’ You have to get them in the door first to watch the show. I don’t know how many of our fans are going door to door telling their friends about it, but I know AJ the Costco Guy is going on TikTok and telling people, ‘You have to watch this. I’m bringing the Boom.’ This is the greatest marketing we could ask for, especially to a new audience, instead of continuously promoting to the same exact audience we already have. If something isn’t the greatest, they’re going to tell how many people? If it’s good, they expect it to be good because it’s All Elite Wrestling. They’re not telling anybody about that. If we can get more positive exposure and publicity, let’s do it. I thought AJ was one of the best ways to do it and it’s proven itself. They’re everywhere."
As for the potential to do business with Big Boom! AJ after the match, AJ says he's open to doing more with AEW if the opportunities allow. Read his comments here.
Check out the whole card for AEW Full Gear at this link. Fightful will have full coverage of the event on November 23.
Check out the full interview with Marshall embedded at the top of this page.
