QT Marshall: A Downfall Of Developmental Is Hiring Athletes, Teaching Them To Have A Wrestling Heart

QT Marshall wants people who want to wrestle at his school. 

While AEW and the Nightmare Factory has dabbled in taking athletes and turning them into wrestlers, Marshall prefers those who want to be wrestlers. WWE has often recruited former football, basketball, and Olympic athletes to the Performance Center trying to turn them into the next big WWE superstar with various results. 

Marshall believes such an approach doesn’t always work. 

“We’re not really big on hiring a bunch of athletes. We really want people that just want to be wrestlers or at least have learned how to wrestle a little bit. One of the downfalls of developmental programs is hiring a bunch of athletes and trying to teach them how to have the heart to wrestle. It’s very hard to do this. It’s a tough profession,” Marshall said during a Pro Wrestling Junkies Q&A session. 

Marshall did mention former boxer Anthony Ogogo as an athlete recruited by AEW who he sees big things for in the future. Ogogo has yet to wrestle for AEW, but has done commentary work on AEW Dark. He is currently training with Marshall at the Nightmare Factory. 

Fightful will have live coverage of AEW Dark beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, February 9. 

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