Trevor Outlaw: The Nightmare Factory Is Like Disney Land For Pro Wrestling

Trevor Outlaw has high praise for the Nightmare Factory.

The Nightmare Factory is considered to be one of the top wrestling schools in the entire world. The school, which is led by Cody Rhodes & QT Marshall, has produced stars like Lee Johnson, Julia Hart, and Brooke Havok, along with many others.

On the Spotlight, Jeremy Lambert & Stephen Jensen spoke to Trevor Outlaw, who trained at the Freelance Wrestling Academy & the Nightmare Factory. In the interview, Outlaw talked about how some people thought that the school was an instant way to get signed to AEW and how he knew that wasn’t true from the get go.

“There a lot of people that go into those camps with the idea that…when I went Cody was still with AEW. Him and QT were both there. I think a lot of people look at these camps like, ‘that’s my way to get signed. I’m going to get signed right away if I go to this camp. If I spend this money, I’m going to get to this camp.’ I knew that was bullshit from the jump. I was looking at it like, we were in a time where we were in a pandemic before shows started to come back, but they were kind of starting to, and I wanted to take my education and training to the next level. I think people see me as ‘Oh, he’s funny,’ but I’m a student of the game. I love this business, I have since I was a child. The hard work and eating all the shit sandwiches, as much as it sucks, I live for that kind of stuff because you’re always grinding for something.”

Outlaw went on to recall one moment where he thanked QT Marshall for calling him out in front of the class, noting that he likes being told what he isn’t doing right because it helps him get better.

“When I got there, I think they had their guard up at first because ‘who is this loud mouth douchebag walking around in leopard print?’ I know people look at me and I have a punchable face. As I got to know them, I would ask a lot of questions and you can kind of sort out who is asking questions to gauge interest versus who is asking questions on things to genuinely get better. There was one day where I wasn’t having a good day. QT used me as an example and I was like, ‘thank you, what else did I do wrong?’ He said, ‘Why are you thanking me, I just reemed you in front of the entire class.’ I told him, ‘If you don’t tell me what’s not working, how am I going to get better?’ Those are the things I look for. We’re in a day and age where everyone can get online and say ‘this is fantastic, this awesome’ or people say that everything sucks, but to be able to spend time with people who have the experience, guys like Cody and QT do, you’d be a fool to not listen to what they have to say. On the other side, stuff with Cody, he helped me out a lot with the presentation of who I am. I have always been a firm believer in dress for the job you want and not the job that you have. Even on the Indies, I’m pretty much always dressed up and wearing a nice shirt and pants. I’ve gotten a lot more opportunities based on merit. I might be a prick, but I work my ass off, and people see that. I think Cody saw that in me. When we got invited back, he was like, ‘I really appreciate you coming and dressing up.’ It’s casual at AEW, but it’s little things like that.”

Trevor Outlaw then shifted his focus to the promo aspect of the school, explaining that they help you nail down the presentation of everything. Outlaw also said that the Nightmare Factory is the Disney Land of professional wrestling.

“On top of that, promos. They put you in a room with just him and you can either cut a promo on somebody or cut a promo explaining who you are and why you are the way that you are, and I did that. The conversations I had with him just nailing down the presentation. ‘When you talk, you’re not selling me something, I believe what you’re saying because this is you.’ Authenticity in wrestling is something that is very much lacking in all regards. People want you to believe they are this and that, but they’re not. For me, to have the background that I do. ‘This is who I am,’ and to put it out there, he showed me how to make that marketable. being yourself is marketable in any regard. I can sit here and I can cry about ‘people boo me’ or ‘people treat me like shit,’ or I can slap Rudest on a t-shirt and make it not look like a wrestling shirt and people say, ‘that’s sick, I’m going to buy that.’ I sell myself to more people that aren’t wrestling fans than our because it’s looking past the wrestling aspect to things that transcend the wrestling world to pop culture. The NWO logo, I can’t tell you how people have seen that who have no idea what wrestling is and have never heard of it, but they wear that shirt. Nowadays, it’s not as common because wrestling is in a boom period. I don’t have a lot of positive things to say about people normally, but I can’t sing the praises of Cody and QT enough. If you got in their to learn, you’re going to learn. It’s like the Disney Land of pro wrestling. The education I get there is next to none. I think a lot of people take advantage of it, ‘Oh, I’ll get a match on Dark.’ ‘Oh, I’ll say I got trained by these guys.’ I don’t believe a school is good enough to get somebody booked. At the end of the day, Cody will say it, you still have to do the work.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Outlaw talked about using Creed’s ‘Higher’ song for an entrance at a recent show. Fans can learn more here.

Furthermore, fans can see Fightful’s full interview with Trevor Outlaw in the video linked above.