AEW star Marina Shafir recently revealed the origins of her on-screen partnership with Jon Moxley, explaining that it began after she took the initiative to ask for help at a backstage meeting. Speaking on Saraya’s Rulebreakers podcast, Shafir detailed the journey from working independent dates to becoming a member of the Death Riders faction.
Shafir explained that the opportunity arose after a backstage meeting where several of AEW’s top stars, including Moxley, Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, and The Young Bucks, offered to help other talent get bookings with affiliated independent promotions to gain more in-ring experience. “Once the meeting was over, everybody got up and everybody left, and they just all stood up there with their dicks in their hands,” Shafir recalled.
“I Need Help”
Seeing the opportunity, Shafir approached Moxley directly. “I was like, one of the last people to leave… and I just went right up to MOX, and I just go, ‘I need help,'” she recounted. “I know I have something that’s different, but I know that the nature of this beast will dilute it… I’m willing and ready to learn. I know I need the reps. I know it’s not tailored. I just need help.”
According to Shafir, Moxley took her number and began mentoring her. “He took my number down and watched a few of my matches, and he was like, ‘Okay, they’re okay,'” she said. “Connected me with Defy, connected me with Revolver, Sami Callihan’s promotion, and I just started getting those reps, and he helped me, like, with every match, we made little tweaks. It was just on the on the job, learning.”
Joining The Death Riders
That process of development on the independent scene eventually led to a bigger opportunity in AEW. “And then it just kind of evolved into, ‘Hey, I’m gonna need you to be ready for this,'” Shafir said. “And I’m like, ‘You think I’m ready?’ [He said] ‘I think I’m ready.’ I won’t know until I do it, and then we’ll know when it happens.” She noted that when her alliance with Moxley finally debuted on television, “there was a lot of excitement, and there was a lot of people that were mad. So I guess we got the good reaction.”
Marina Shafir is now a featured member of the Death Riders faction on AEW television, alongside Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Rulebreakers With Saraya with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
