It's now approaching five years since NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal's stepped into an AEW ring to team with Jade Cargill to defeat Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet, though O'Neal was put through a table for his troubles. Plenty has changed since then, with Rhodes and Cargill both leaving AEW to join WWE, but the match has remained notable, particularly when it comes to O'Neal, who was put in an ambulance following his table spot, only to disappear soon after.
While AEW/ROH star QT Marshall remembers that spot well, his memories of that time are more of training with O'Neal in the weeks leading up. Speaking with "Denise Salcedo" about the experience, Marshall praised O'Neal for the dedication and work he put into preparing for the match.
"I would do the normal class until about 10 or 11 o'clock at night," Marshall said. "And then he would show up and I would stay later with him. He really put in the work. He had ideas of what he wanted to do. It was just teaching him how to do it without really hurting somebody. Especially at the time, it was going to be Cody, right? Obviously, we couldn't really injure him. But yeah, he took it so seriously.
"And really, it tells what kind of athlete he is, which is why he was at the top of the basketball world, and he's basically on top of every business he goes into...He puts all the effort in. And he really...I wish he would've been able to do that in front of 10, 15,000 people in Jacksonville. But we still had a good crowd there, and I know he had a lot of fun. And I know Tony would really like him back. He was in the ambulance, and then he disappeared, and we never saw him again. So who knows? We'll leave the door open, but you never know."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Denise Salcedo" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
