Years of Bodybuilding Training Couldn’t Save Shaquille O’Neal from Painful AEW Moment

NBA fans know full well that Shaquille O’Neal is a man who possesses multiple talents. Apart from being an NBA legend, the Big Aristotle is a successful businessman, a rapper, an actor, and a Sheriff’s deputy. Additionally, he is a professional wrestler who is also trained in mixed martial arts. Shaq has appeared in several Wrestling events as a guest and a host. Eventually, he made his debut in 2016 at WrestleMania 32.

The Diesel has been an avid fan of wrestling since childhood. In fact, Shaq had once said that he wanted to get muscular like a WWE wrestler. In a 2018 interview with Muscle and Fitness, Shaq was asked about his favorite exercise. O’Neal answered that he liked bench press and swimming.

Furthermore, Shaq revealed that he was able to bench-press 415 lbs. Whereas, during his prime years, he could go up to 475.  The interviewer then asked him if he trained as much as he used to when he was an active NBA player. The former Los Angeles Lakers superstar replied that he trained every day after the season ended. While he took a week off for family vacation, he resumed his training after that.

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“I know I need to lose weight, but I don’t want to get skinny. So I’m bulking up. I want to get muscular like a WWE wrestler. I’ve been lifting and eating right—you know, just trying to get swole, because I don’t want to lose 50 pounds and be skinny,” said Shaq.

However, even after all those trainings and strict diet, the Big Aristotle failed to stand his ground against the two-time intercontinental champion.

Shaquille O’Neal gets tricked by his trainer

Shaquille O’Neal first came across Paul Wight when he hosted the WWE Monday Night Raw. The duo instantly got off on the wrong foot and a feud began. When Shaq debuted in WrestleMania in 2016, he got involved in a confrontation with Wight after defeating Damian Shadow. O’Neal was then eliminated after he was defeated by several other wrestlers. Following his elimination, Shaq then joined WWE’s rival, AEW. Several years later, in 2021, Shaq’s first match in AEW was announced.

Shaq was paired with Jade Cargill against Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet. The highlight of the match was Rhodes did the crossbody jump on O’Neal and tackled him through the ringside tables. Now, O’Neal sure was expecting the tackling and a fall here and there but what came as a shock to him was the impact of the fall. What O’Neal expected was to sustain mild injury from the fall as he had expected some kind of cushioning, thanks to his trainer QT Marshall. In a post-match interview, Marshall confessed that he wasn’t entirely truthful with Shaq.

“I told him, ‘Oh, it won’t be that bad, we’ll put a really thick pad underneath,’ which was not true. I just didn’t want him to back out of it,” said Marshall.

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Do you think Marshall did the right thing by hiding that piece of information from Shaq? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!