The “egos” of certain Superstars in WWE squandered the much-anticipated dream match between WWE’s Four Horsewomen and the Four Horsewomen in MMA.
In May 2018, Marina Shafir signed with WWE, alongside fellow MMA alum Jessamyn Duke.
Aiding Shayna Baszler in NXT, the trio was considered part of the Four Horsewomen of MMA, alongside Ronda Rousey.
Egos
For years, WWE fans hoped on an eight-woman tag match, which would have pitted the Four Horsewomen of MMA against Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Charlotte Flair, and Bayley.
Of course, the match never happened, and on the latest episode of The Sessions, Shafir gave her reason why.
“Egos were at play. I’ve learned that there are too many f***ing cooks in the kitchen sometimes. In more ways than one.”
Shafir didn’t name which Superstar had an ego that stopped the match happening, but didn’t hold back when addressing WWE’s Four Horsewomen of wrestling.
“I just feel like professional wrestling was a little more exclusive back in the day. It wasn’t about politicking. It was really just about showing respect and not kissing ass.”
Transition
Before coming to WWE, Shafir made her name in MMA, and formerly competed for Invicta Fighting Championships in the women’s featherweight division.
Shafir’s last fight would come in 2015, three years before signing with WWE, and the Moldovan wrestler had an interesting analogy for knowing she needed to fight again.
“You know that feeling when you need to go pee? I felt like I needed to f***ing pee but I couldn’t go. It just felt like I had this internal pressure to go [and wrestle] and I couldn’t do it.”
Shafir would only have six sanctioned matches for WWE before her release in the summer of last year.
Release
Shafir hadn’t competed on WWE programming in close to half a year by the time of her release, but this was something the wrestler was trying to change.
On the show, Shafir said that she was constantly trying to prove herself to WWE, which proved to be difficult given she wasn’t being booked.
“I was in the best shape of my life [when I got released.] And it threw me through a loop, because I consistently asked for more pressure… Just use me. There was something going on with Jess and Shayna was doing her own thing. Use me. Give me that experience, I’m not afraid of failure.
“You see the great ones. They’ve been put in those positions for a reason, because they have failed, and they then learned.”
Bad First Start
For many WWE Superstars, their early days with WWE will see them get endorsed by Triple H, who has shaken hands with countless wrestlers to welcome them to the company.
Shafir never got such a photo, which remains a sticking point for the Moldovan fighter all these years later.
“I felt like I never got a proper introduction. I can f***ing talk about this now. You know the photos, when you get signed to NXT with Triple H and he’s shaking the hand? I never got that photo. And that just sat with me. I wanted that f***ing photo. It meant a lot to me.”
“I wanted that f***ing photo. It meant a lot to me.”
Marina Shafir on not getting the WWE welcome photo with Triple H.
Since her release, Shafir has since joined AEW, where she has challenged for both the Women’s World title and TBS title, but won neither championship.