Marina Shafir Recalls Approaching Jon Moxley For Help In AEW, Going Through ‘On-The-Job Learning’ With Him
Marina Shafir recalls building a relationship with Jon Moxley.
Shortly after being released from WWE, Marina Shafir made her debut for AEW in December 2021, losing to Kris Statlander in a singles contest.
From that point on, Shafir established herself a regular on episodes of AEW Dark and AEW Dark: Elevation. Despite making a few appearances on Dynamite and Rampage, Shafir was never really involved in a major storyline.
That changed in August 2024, as Shafir aligned herself with Jon Moxley and the Death Riders. Since then, she’s been featured on television frequently in a managerial role.
In a new interview with Saraya’s Rulebreakers podcast, Marina Shafir recalled approaching Moxley for help in a meeting.
“There was a leak in the building to the dirt sheets or whatever. We would have meetings, they would address that and then it turned into a lot of people needed the reps and a lot of people needed to stay wrestling. Wrestling is forever changing and if you’re not working, you’re not really adapting to the atmosphere. They were just like, ‘Hey, we know you guys want to do indies, we’re trying to find some indie promotions that we can work with just cause not all promotions get along and there’s politics. Everybody wanted to keep things kosher, so there’s a handful of promotions we’re trying to build relationships with so you guys can get developmental work. If anybody wants help, ask one of us, we’d be more than happy to help.’ This is, I’m talking the Young Bucks, Jericho, Mox, Bryan, Kenny, I think maybe one or two more. Once the meeting was over, everybody got up and everybody left and they just all stood up there and they were just like, ‘Oh, okay, whatever.’ I was one of the last people to leave because I was in a really weird spot in the room. I just went right up to Mox and I just go, I need help. I know I have something that’s different but I know the nature of this beast will dilute it and it’ll just be, you know, here one day and gone the other. If we can do something with it, cool. I’m willing and ready to learn. I know I need the reps, I know it’s not tailored. I just need help.”
Shafir went on, essentially saying that Moxley took her under his wing after the meeting.
“He took my number down and watched a few of my matches and he was like, ‘Okay, yup.’ Connected me with Defy, connected me with Revolver, and I just started getting those reps and he helped me. With every match, we made little tweaks. It was just on the job learning and then it just kind of evolved into, ‘Hey, I’m gonna need you to be ready for this.’ I’m like, ‘Do you think I’m ready?’ I think I’m ready, I won’t know until I do it. Then, when it happened, there was a lot of excitement and there was a lot of people that were mad, so I guess we got the good reaction.”
Jon Moxley’s lengthy reign with the AEW World Championship came to an end at AEW All In Texas, as he lost the title to ‘Hangman’ Adam Page.
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