Scotty 2 Hotty Explains How He Ended Up Working For AEW As A Backstage Producer

After mid-summer reports indicated that former WWE Tag Team Champion Scotty 2 Hotty — real name Scott Garland — participated in a backstage AEW tryout, Garland later confirmed that he had officially been brought up as a producer and coach for the company. On a recent episode of "AEW Unrestricted," Garland opened up about how he acquired these behind-the-scenes roles.

"So it was kind of out of nowhere," Garland said. "I've done a lot in Europe over the last couple of years wrestling-wise. I was in Europe in July, and I got a message from Sonjay Dutt asking if I'd be interested in coming in and trying out as a coach and producer. It was exciting. It kind of came out of nowhere. The only thing was, at the time, I had a five-week tour of Europe booked for November. So I started [working as a producer] at the end of July, and then I worked up until almost Halloween, and I left for five weeks. Then I just returned last week. So it's kind of like I started, and then everything was put on pause, and then I came back. I'm excited now to really get into the groove and really dive in and start working with people."

Prior to joining AEW, Garland previously served as a producer and trainer at WWE's Performance Center, where he helped guide many of the talents of the "WWE NXT" brand. Garland eventually left his position in November 2021 after a 5-year run. Two months later, Garland returned to in-ring competition, venturing into the independent wrestling scenes across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. In December 2023, Garland made his in-ring debut for AEW in a dark match before "AEW Dynamite: New Year's Smash" went on the air. 

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "AEW Unrestricted" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.