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Marina Shafir
Moldovan professional wrestler and mixed martial artist From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Marina Shafir (Romanian: Marina Șafir; born 14 April 1988) is a Moldovan professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she is a member of the Death Riders. She also appears in AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH).
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Shafir formerly competed for MMA promotion Invicta Fighting Championships in the women's featherweight division. She is best known for her time in AEW as well as WWE, where she performed on their NXT brand and was the first and to date only Moldovan to ever compete for either promotion. Shafir also makes appearances on the independent circuit.
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Early life
Shafir moved from Moldova to the United States when she was five years old. Her father, a mechanic, and her mother, a teacher, settled in Latham, New York along with Marina and her two older brothers. Shafir began training judo when she was six years old and started competing at a high level in the sport when she was 12. However, she stopped competing in judo in her late teens. Shafir is a graduate of Shaker High School.[1]
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Mixed martial arts career
Shafir began her mixed martial career at an amateur level in 2012. In a two-year spell, she was unbeaten, winning all five of her fights by submission (four by armbar and one by arm-triangle choke). She turned professional in early 2014.
Shafir's first professional fight was against Chandra Engel on April 12, 2014, where she won by submission in the first round. Later that year, Shafir suffered her first-ever loss in a first-round defeat to Amanda Bell.[2] The following year, she signed with Invicta Fighting Championships.[3] Her first match in the Invicta promotion was against Amber Leibrock on July 9, 2015, which was Leibrock's first professional fight. Shafir was defeated in the first round.[4]
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Professional wrestling career
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WWE (2018–2021)
On 7 May 2018, WWE announced that Shafir, along with Jessamyn Duke, had signed with WWE and reported to their Performance Center for training.[5] On 28 October at WWE Evolution, Shafir and Duke made their WWE debuts as heels when they interfered during the NXT Women's Championship match, in which they helped Shayna Baszler regain the title over Kairi Sane.[6] They made another appearance at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, when they interfered during Baszler and Sane's two out of three falls match, in which Baszler scored the first fall and the victory in the latter to retain the title.[7] On the 19 December 2018 episode of NXT, Shafir and Duke made their NXT in ring debut, but were defeated by Io Shirai and Dakota Kai, when Shirai pinned Shafir after a moonsault.[8] At NXT TakeOver: Phoenix, Shafir and Duke assisted Baszler in retaining the title against Bianca Belair.[9] In October 2019, Duke and Shafir were defeated by Kai and Tegan Nox in a number one contender's match for the Women's Tag Team Championship.[10] After several months of inactivity, Shafir returned to WWE TV on 17 August 2020, reuniting with Baszler and Duke, and winning a Raw Underground match. On 25 June 2021, Shafir was released from her WWE contract.[11]
Independent circuit (2021–present)
On 22 October 2021, she debuted at Game Changer Wrestling's Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 7 where she defeated Masha Slamovich via submission.[12] On the 13 November 13 2021 episode (taped 7 October 2021) of UWN Primetime Live Championship Wrestling from Georgia, she defeated Nightmare Factory alum, Brooke Havok.[13] On 31 March 2022, she defeated Zeda Zhang via submission at Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8.[14] On 30 March 2023, Shafir defeated Killer Kelly via submission at Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 9.[15] On 4 April 2024, she competed in a four-women tournament at Josh Barnett's Bloodsport X. She defeated Janai Kai in the semi-finals via submission and Lindsay Snow in the finals via referee stoppage.[16] On 10 May 2024, at Defy Wrestling, she defeated Vert Vixen for the Defy Women's Championship at Here and Now.[17]
All Elite Wrestling / Ring of Honor (2021–present)
Early appearances (2021–2023)
On the 14 December 2021 episode of AEW Dark, Shafir made her All Elite Wrestling debut, where she was defeated by Kris Statlander. After going on a six-match winning streak, on the April 22, 2022 episode of AEW Rampage, Shafir challenged Jade Cargill for the AEW TBS Championship in a losing effort. On June 8 on AEW Dynamite, Shafir faced Thunder Rosa for the AEW Women's World Championship which Shafir lost.[18] On the 20 June 2022 episode of AEW Dark: Elevation, Shafir teamed with Nyla Rose.[19] On the 9 August episode of AEW Dark, Vickie Guerrero, the manager of Rose, introduced Rose and Shafir as the Beasts of Burden.[20] On the 10 January 2023, episode of Dark, Shafir challenged Athena for the ROH Women's World Championship, but was unsuccessful.[21] On 26 January at The Jay Briscoe Celebration of Life, Shafir made her debut for AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH), defeating Mighty Mayra in a squash match.[22] On 17 November of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Shafir teamed with Ronda Rousey to defeat Athena and Billie Starkz.[23] She would continue to spend the majority of 2023 wrestling on Dark, Dark: Elevation and ROH.
Death Riders (2024–present)
On the August 28, 2024 episode of Dynamite, Shafir aligned herself with Jon Moxley. On September 7 at All Out, Shafir assisted Moxley's faction Blackpool Combat Club (BCC) in attacking Bryan Danielson, officially joining the group in the process. In November 2024, the BCC rebranded to the "Death Riders" a nod to Moxley's nickname in NJPW.[24] Shafir would be the main carrier of the briefcase that Moxley put the AEW World Championship belt in. During her time in the Death Riders, Shafir and the other members would constantly interfere in Moxley's title defenses to help him win.[25][26][27][28]
On the April 2, 2025 episode of Dynamite, Shafir teamed with Moxley, losing to Swerve Strickland and Willow Nightingale in a mixed tornado tag team match.[29] On May 25 at Double or Nothing, the Death Riders teamed with The Young Bucks, losing to Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, Willow Nightingale, and The Opps (Samoa Joe, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Katsuyori Shibata) in an Anarchy in the Arena match.[30] On November 12 at Blood & Guts, Shafir teamed with Triangle of Madness (Julia Hart, Skye Blue, and Thekla), Megan Bayne,and Mercedes Moné to defeat Jamie Hayter, Willow Nightingale, Harley Cameron, Kris Statlander, and Timeless Love Bombs ("Timeless" Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa) in the namesake match.[31]
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Personal life
Shafir is a close friend of Ronda Rousey, who trained with her at Glendale Fighting Club, and had a similar background in judo. They lived together for a number of years in Venice, California, along with Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke.[32]
In December 2015, Shafir got engaged to professional wrestler Christopher Lindsey, better known as Roderick Strong.[33] In 2017, Shafir gave birth to their first child.[34] The two were married on November 7, 2018.[35]
Shafir is Jewish.[36]
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Mixed martial arts record
| 3 matches | 1 win | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 2 |
| By submission | 1 | 0 |
| By decision | 0 | 0 |
| Amateur record breakdown | ||
| 5 matches | 5 wins | 0 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 0 |
| By submission | 5 | 0 |
| By decision | 0 | 0 |
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Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked her #68 in the 2025 PWI Top 250 Females
- Brii Combination Wrestling
- BCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- DEFY Wrestling
- DEFY Women's Championship (1 time, current)
- Game Changer Wrestling
- Bloodsport Women's Tournament (2024)
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
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