Marina Shafir
Shafir in 2014
Born (1988-04-14) April 14, 1988
Soroca, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Moldova)
NationalitySoviet (formerly)
Moldovan
Spouse
​
(m. 2018)​
Children1
Ring name(s)Marina Shafir
The Problem
Billed height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Billed weight145 lb (66 kg; 10.4 st)
Billed fromMoldova
Trained byWWE Performance Center
DebutAugust 25, 2018
Mixed martial arts career Martial arts career
DivisionFeatherweight (145 lb)
StyleJudo
Fighting out ofVenice, California
TeamGlendale Fighting Club
Years active2012–2016 (MMA)
Mixed martial arts record
Total3
Wins1
By knockout0
By submission1
By decision0
Losses2
By knockout2
By submission0
By decision0
Draws0
No contests0
Amateur record
Total5
Wins5
By knockout0
By submission5
By decision0
Losses0
By knockout0
By decision0
Other information
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Marina Shafir (Romanian: Marina Șafir; born 14 April 1988) is a Moldovan-born American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She formerly competed for Invicta Fighting Championships in the women's featherweight division. Shafir is arguably best known for her time in WWE, where she was the first and to date only Moldovan to ever compete for that promotion.

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 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.[1]

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 matches 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]

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2018–2021)

On May 7, 2018, WWE announced that Shafir, along with Jessamyn Duke, had signed with WWE and reported to their Performance Center for training.[5] On October 28 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 December 19, 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 August 17, 2020, reuniting with Baszler and Duke, and winning a Raw Underground match. On June 25, 2021, Shafir was released from her WWE contract.[11]

Independent circuit (2021)

On October 22, 2021, she defeated Masha Slamovich at Game Changer Wrestling Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 7.[12] On the November 13, 2021 episode (taped October 7, 2021) of UWN Primetime Live Championship Wrestling from Georgia, she defeated Nightmare Factory alum, Brooke Havok. [13]

All Elite Wrestling (2021–present)

On the December 14, 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.[14]

From June 2022, Shafir teamed with Nyla Rose.[15] On the August 9 episode of AEW Dark, Vickie Guerrero, the manager of Rose, introduced Rose and Shafir as the Beasts of Burden.[16] On the January 10, 2023, episode of Dark, Shafir challenged Athena for the ROH Women's World Championship, but was unsuccessful.[17]

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.[18]

In December 2015, Shafir got engaged to professional wrestler Christopher Lindsey, better known as Roderick Strong.[19] In 2017, Shafir gave birth to their first child.[20] The two were married on November 7, 2018.[21]

Shafir is Jewish.[22]

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
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
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

References

  1. ↑ Boone, Amber (2015-07-07). "Invicta FC 13's Marina Shafir: 'The World Owes Me Nothing; It Was Here First'". Combat Press. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  2. ↑ "Video: Marina Shafir suffers upset KO loss to Amanda Bell". MMA Junkie. Retrieved 2015-04-12.
  3. ↑ Doyle, Dave (April 1, 2015). "Marina Shafir signs with Invicta FC". mmafighting.com.
  4. ↑ "Marina Shafir knocked out by Amber Leibrock in 37 seconds at Invicta FC 13". mmafighting.com. April 1, 2015.
  5. ↑ Clapp, John (May 7, 2018). "Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke, Four Horsewomen teammates of Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, report to WWE PC". WWE.
  6. ↑ Benigno, Anthony (October 28, 2018). "Shayna Baszler def. Kairi Sane to become the new NXT Women's Champion". WWE. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  7. ↑ Trionfo, Richard (November 17, 2018). "BLACK VERSUS GARGANO: LIVE ONGOING WWE NXT TAKEOVER WAR GAMES II COVERAGE". PWInsider.
  8. ↑ "WWE NXT: Dec. 19, 2018". WWE.
  9. ↑ Winter, Arya (January 26, 2019). "NXT TakeOver Phoenix live results: Four title matches". Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  10. ↑ "WWE NXT: Oct. 23, 2019". WWE.
  11. ↑ "Complete List Of Today'S Wwe Releases". PWInsider.com. 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
  12. ↑ "Josh Barnett's Bloodsport 7 results: Minoru Suzuki vs. Chris Dickinson". WON/F4W - WWE news, Pro Wrestling News, WWE Results, UFC News, UFC results. 2021-10-22. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  13. ↑ "Spoilers: Full Results From October 7th Championship Wrestling From Atlanta Tapings". Wrestling-News.net. 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  14. ↑ "AEW Dynamite June 8 2022 Results". allelitewrestling. 9 June 2022.
  15. ↑ Quilan, Olivia (June 27, 2022). "AEW Dark: Elevation Results (06/20) – Frankie Kazarian Vs. Andrade, Ruby Soho In Action". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  16. ↑ Collins, Joseph (August 9, 2022). "AEW Dark results: Orange Cassidy vs. Anthony Henry". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  17. ↑ Russell, Skylar (January 10, 2023). "AEW Dark results: Athena vs. Marina Shafir ROH Women's title match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  18. ↑ Gordon, Grant (November 28, 2013). "The MMA journey of Marina Shafir". Glendale News-Press.
  19. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (2015-12-25). "Daily Update: Poll for McGregor's next foe, Trish Stratus to get award". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
  20. ↑ "Roderick Strong and Marina Shafir welcome son into the world". WWE. April 24, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Roderick Strong and Marina Shafir get married". WWE. November 8, 2018.
  22. ↑ An Interview with MMA Fighter Marina Shafir Jeremy Fine, oychicago.com (September 24, 2013)
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