Marina Shafir Discusses The Hardest Thing About Transitioning From MMA To Pro Wrestling

By Corey Brennan Last updated Jun 17, 2022

Another former fighter discusses crossing over between mixed martial arts and professional wrestling.

Marina Shafir has not had a bad run since joining All Elite Wrestling. While she has built up quite a record on AEW Dark, Shafir has also challenged for both the AEW Women’s Title and the TBS championship. Using her martial arts experience as her moveset, we have seen Shafir improve leaps and bounds in recent months. For those who don’t know, Shafir is a member of the Four Horsewomen of MMA along with Ronda Rousey and Shayna Bazler.

Asked on the latest AEW Unrestricted what the hardest part of her transition to wrestling from MMA was, Marina said it was keeping her ego in check and understanding just how vulnerable and emotional you need to be in professional wrestling.

“My own ego, learning to swallow that motherfucker was real hard,” she said. “It still is sometimes. I’m starting to realize where the real levels of competitiveness come from in pro wrestling and I am not there yet, but I know that, and just being vulnerable, that was hard. It still is hard. It’s hard for me in relationships. It’s hard for me everywhere. I think it’s hard for everybody. I think in pro wrestling, the biggest transition is understanding how much you need to be vulnerable. Because you’ve got to know yourself.”
Marina Shafir on AEW Unrestricted

“The Problem” has had issues in the last two weeks with Thunder Rosa, as Rosa was accused of sandbagging Shafir. The two made up however following this week’s AEW Dynamite. For now, Shafir will look to continue her transition from MMA to Pro Wrestling.

H/T to Fightful for transcription

Follow Corey at @CoreyBrennanBS on Twitter

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