Marina Shafir | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Shafir in 2022 | |
| Born | (1988-04-14)April 14, 1988 (age 37) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name | Marina Shafir |
| Billed height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| Billed weight | 145 lb (66 kg; 10.4 st) |
| Billed from | Moldova |
| Trained by | WWE Performance Center Sara Amato Jon Moxley |
| Debut | 25 August 2018 |
| Martial arts career | |
| Division | Featherweight (145 lb) |
| Style | Judo |
| Fighting out of | Venice, California |
| Team | Glendale Fighting Club |
| Years active | 2012–2016 (MMA) |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 3 |
| Wins | 1 |
| By submission | 1 |
| Losses | 2 |
| By knockout | 2 |
| Amateur record | |
| Total | 5 |
| Wins | 5 |
| By submission | 5 |
| Other information | |
| Mixed martial arts record fromSherdog | |
Marina Shafir (Romanian:Marina Șafir; born 14 April 1988) is aMoldovanprofessional wrestler and formermixed martial artist. She is signed toAll Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she is a member of theDeath Riders. She also appears in AEW's sister promotionRing of Honor (ROH).
Shafir formerly competed for MMA promotionInvicta Fighting Championships in the women's featherweight division. She is best known for her time inAEW as well asWWE, where she performed on theirNXTbrand and was the first and to date only Moldovan to ever compete for either promotion. Shafir also makes appearances on theindependent circuit.
Shafir moved from Moldova to the United States when she was five years old. Her father, a mechanic, and her mother, a teacher, settled inLatham, New York along with Marina and her two older brothers. Shafir began trainingjudo 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 ofShaker High School.[1]
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 toAmanda Bell.[2] The following year, she signed withInvicta Fighting Championships.[3] Her first match in the Invicta promotion was againstAmber Leibrock on July 9, 2015, which was Leibrock's first professional fight. Shafir was defeated in the first round.[4]
On 7 May 2018, WWE announced that Shafir, along withJessamyn Duke, had signed with WWE and reported to theirPerformance Center for training.[5] On 28 October atWWE Evolution, Shafir and Duke made their WWE debuts asheels when they interfered during theNXT Women's Championship match, in which they helpedShayna Baszler regain the title overKairi Sane.[6] They made another appearance atNXT 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 ofNXT, Shafir and Duke made their NXT in ring debut, but were defeated byIo Shirai andDakota Kai, when Shirai pinned Shafir after a moonsault.[8] AtNXT TakeOver: Phoenix, Shafir and Duke assisted Baszler in retaining the title againstBianca Belair.[9] In October 2019, Duke and Shafir were defeated by Kai andTegan Nox in a number one contender's match for theWomen'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 aRaw Underground match. On 25 June 2021, Shafir was released from her WWE contract.[11]
On 22 October 2021, she debuted atGame Changer Wrestling'sJosh Barnett's Bloodsport 7 where she defeated Masha Slamovich via submission.[12] On the 13 November 13 2021 episode (taped 7 October 2021) ofUWN Primetime Live Championship Wrestling from Georgia, she defeated Nightmare Factory alum, Brooke Havok.[13] On 31 March 2022, she defeatedZeda Zhang via submission at Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 8.[14] On 30 March 2023, Shafir defeatedKiller 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 defeatedJanai Kai in the semi-finals via submission and Lindsay Snow in the finals via referee stoppage.[16] On 10 May 2024, atDefy Wrestling, she defeated Vert Vixen for the Defy Women's Championship at Here and Now.[17]
On the 14 December 2021 episode ofAEW Dark, Shafir made herAll Elite Wrestling debut, where she was defeated byKris Statlander. After going on a six-match winning streak, on the April 22, 2022 episode ofAEW Rampage, Shafir challengedJade Cargill for theAEW TBS Championship in a losing effort. On June 8 onAEW Dynamite, Shafir facedThunder Rosa for theAEW Women's World Championship which Shafir lost.[18]On the 20 June 2022 episode ofAEW Dark: Elevation, Shafir teamed withNyla Rose.[19] On the 9 August episode ofAEW Dark,Vickie Guerrero, the manager of Rose, introduced Rose and Shafir as the Beasts of Burden.[20] On the 10 January 2023, episode ofDark, Shafir challengedAthena for theROH Women's World Championship, but was unsuccessful.[21] On 26 January atThe Jay Briscoe Celebration of Life, Shafir made her debut for AEW's sister promotionRing of Honor (ROH), defeating Mighty Mayra in asquash match.[22] On 17 November ofRing of Honor Wrestling, Shafir teamed withRonda Rousey to defeat Athena andBillie Starkz.[23] She would continue to spend the majority of 2023 wrestling onDark,Dark: Elevation and ROH.
On the August 28, 2024 episode ofDynamite, Shafir aligned herself withJon Moxley. On September 7 atAll Out, Shafir assisted Moxley's faction Blackpool Combat Club (BCC) in attackingBryan 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 theAEW 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 ofDynamite, Shafir teamed with Moxley, losing toSwerve Strickland andWillow Nightingale in amixedtornado tag team match.[29] On May 25 atDouble or Nothing, the Death Riders teamed withThe Young Bucks, losing toKenny Omega,Swerve Strickland,Willow Nightingale, andThe Opps (Samoa Joe,Powerhouse Hobbs, andKatsuyori Shibata) in anAnarchy in the Arena match.[30] On November 12 atBlood & Guts, Shafir teamed with Triangle of Madness (Julia Hart,Skye Blue, andThekla),Megan Bayne,andMercedes Moné to defeatJamie Hayter, Willow Nightingale,Harley Cameron,Kris Statlander, and Timeless Love Bombs ("Timeless" Toni Storm andMina Shirakawa) in thenamesake match.[31]
Shafir is a close friend ofRonda Rousey, who trained with her at Glendale Fighting Club, and had a similar background injudo. They lived together for a number of years inVenice, California, along withShayna Baszler andJessamyn Duke.[32]
In December 2015, Shafir got engaged to professional wrestler Christopher Lindsey, better known asRoderick 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]
| 3 matches | 1 win | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 2 |
| By submission | 1 | 0 |
| By decision | 0 | 0 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1–2 | Amber Leibrock | TKO (punches) | Invicta FC 13: Cyborg vs. Van Duin | July 9, 2015 | 1 | 0:37 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Loss | 1–1 | Amanda Bell | KO (punches) | LOP Chaos at the Casino 5 | August 10, 2014 | 1 | 0:37 | Inglewood, California, United States | |
| Win | 1–0 | Chandra Engel | Submission (armbar) | LOP Chaos at the Casino 4 | April 12, 2014 | 1 | 1:57 | Inglewood, California, United States |
| Amateur record breakdown | ||
| 5 matches | 5 wins | 0 losses |
| By knockout | 0 | 0 |
| By submission | 5 | 0 |
| By decision | 0 | 0 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 5–0 | Nicole Upshaw | Submission (armbar) | U of MMA: Fight Night 5 | February 9, 2014 | 1 | 1:53 | Los Angeles, California, United States | |
| Win | 4–0 | Tabitha Patterson | Submission (arm-triangle choke) | Tuff-N-Uff: Future Stars of MMA | November 29, 2013 | 1 | 0:59 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 3–0 | Danielle Mack | Submission (armbar) | Tuff-N-Uff: Mayhem in Mesquite 2 | March 23, 2013 | 1 | 0:59 | Mesquite, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 2–0 | Becky Lewis | Submission (armbar) | Premier FC 12: Premier Fighting Championship 12 | November 17, 2012 | 1 | 2:03 | Albany, New York, United States | |
| Win | 1–0 | Denise Goddard | Submission (armbar) | Premier FC 9: Battle to the Belt | May 20, 2012 | 1 | 0:44 | Holyoke, Massachusetts, United States |
,Internet Wrestling Database