Marina Shafir Recalls Gym Altercation With Former AEW Co-Worker, ‘I Had To Literally Draw The Line’
Marina Shafir recalls an uncomfortable encounter with a former co-worker.
Since starting with the company in 2021, Marina Shafir has been a big part of the women’s division in both AEW and ROH, often facing names like Skye Blue and Willow Nightingale.
In January 2023, Shafir got the chance to challenge Athena for the ROH Women’s World Championship on AEW Dynamite. Around the same time, she dealt with a co-worker and his foolishness at the gym.
“I think my first year, right around the time that I wrestled Athena for the ROH title. That morning, I went to the gym and I just do my normal Wednesday activity where I do my workouts and stuff for show day. I have my show day routine every fucking Wednesday, if I don’t do it, the day is not going to go well. I was in the gym and I do my warm-up on the treadmill and I just do 20 minutes side shuffle one way, side shuffle the other way, turn around, run backwards, go facing forward for 20 minutes. I’m not going to name his name cause I’m not like that. But somebody I used to work with hopped onto the treadmill next to me, tried to copy my workout. When he went to go backwards, slips, takes a back bump into the fucking treadmill. I stopped my fucking treadmill and I’m like, ‘Are you good?’ He’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I definitely can’t be doing that.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, man, just don’t do that.’” Shafir said in a new interview with Saraya’s Rulebreakers podcast.
Shafir went on with his story, detailing her past relationship with the unnamed individual.
“I went into the other room to start my mobility and stuff. At the time, my foot was all fucked up, so I had to these foot stretches where I have to prone my foot up and sit on my heel for 3 minutes and I need to use the wall to clean. So, I’m like half kneeling on my foot, just waiting for the time to go off. I’m taking a sip [of water]. Mind you, this person, I used to like — before I started training with NXT, I lived in Tampa and I was still training MMA. The trainer at the time, my buddy Josh, it was one of his older clients that we mutually would cross paths with. As I was going in, he was going out or as he was going out, I was going into my sessions with Josh. It was never anything other than a high five, nothing more nothing less.When he saw that I got hired with AEW, it was like, ‘Oh hey, what’s up man?’ So I go into this other room to do my mobility and I’m just leaning against the wall and all of the sudden, I get shoved from behind. I’m taking a sip of my water bottle, it wasn’t a soft shove, I felt like I just got tackled. My water bottle hits the wall, cuts me in the gums, like my gum is bleeding. Water is just everywhere. I just pause for a second and I turn around, he’s just standing over me like, ‘Come on, come on.’ He’s being “playful”, I did not invite that. I had my fucking headphones in and I’m minding my own fucking business. Mind you, there’s two witnesses, two other people that I work with in that room on the benches. I look over at them and I’m just like, ‘He’s being serious right now, right?’ I just went from Marina in reality to Marina seeing red. I just looked at them, they’re just holding weights in their hands, just standing there like so fucking scared. He’s just like, ‘Come on, come on, I know you fucking want some.’ I’m like, ‘Alright, motherfucker.’ I got up, I stood southpaw just to fuck with him. I faked a fucking left, took a big step and just hooked the fuck out of his chin. He goes to shoot for a double, I stuffed that motherfucker. Grabbed him from the front face lock, chucked him. He tried to pop up for a double and I stuffed it again. My headphones pop out and the last thing I remember saying is, ‘I will fucking take your money, don’t ever fucking touch me ever again.’”
Shafir detailed the immediate aftermath of the incident, even recalling her text conversation with Roderick Strong.
“As soon as my headphones popped out, I was listening to War Pigs. It was just a bad timing situation, I was loaded up. I had a big match, I was just amped up, you know? I just stood up and I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, you can’t put your hands on me like that, I don’t know you like that.’ I understand we have people that we know that we have in common, but you can’t put your hands on me, I’m never available for that shit.’ As he stood up, he’s fucking bleeding. I go over to grab a towel and I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, it’s okay, my lips are chapped.’ I just couldn’t believe that just happened. I was so shaken up. But that’s the thing, when you’re nice and you’re professional, people take that as a fucking invitation and I had to literally draw the line. It’s nothing something I was proud of. As I was walking out of the gym, I’m sending my husband a voice message, I’m like, ‘I cannot believe that I’m about to tell you this.’ This was before he even got hired there, I was by myself. He’s like, ‘Are you fucking serious? He is so fucking lucky that I’m not there.’ I’m like, ‘I love you, I know he would be dead, but I think I handled it.’ What’s funny is, Ricky Starks at the time, he walks into that room and he is like, ‘What the fuck is going on? Oh bitch, you’re going to be fireddd.’ I immediately started like, ‘Fuck, you’re right.’ I had to just go on with the day like nothing happened, it was a stressful thing.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Marina Shafir recalled forming a bond with Jon Moxley after approaching him for help in AEW. Check out her full comments by clicking here.
Check out the current lineup for Wednesday’s edition of AEW Dynamite by clicking here.
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