Jon Moxley isn’t an official coach in AEW, but he’s made no secret of his desire to work with younger stars to help them improve.
One such talent that Moxley appears to have taken under his wing is Marina Shafir. The former MMA fighter has made the switch to professional wrestling and her unique style has caught the attention of the leader of the Blackpool Combat Club.
During an appearance on The Sessions, Moxley said that Shafir has the skills to add a new element to the women’s division.
“Marina Shafir, so much potential there. She is the only one of our species that we have at AEW. There is nobody else, we only have one of her. I see her wrestling differently than everybody. Looking, talking, acting differently than everybody. She has all these martial arts skills and high level judo and MMA experience. She is such a natural at so much of it. She is new at the pro wrestling stuff, like the running, ducking, selling, and bumping.
I saw her wrestle at Bloodsport and it was like she was a different wrestler than I have seen on Dark and Elevation. It was like she was totally different because she was in her element. She wrestled Masha Slamovich, very talented girl. She was wrestling barefoot and moving around. Her footwork and kicks and movement were totally different because she was in her element. I was like, ‘We need to bring that to TV.’ That brings a whole new element to the division.”
Moxley revealed that he has worked with Shafir backstage to try and help her achieve her potential. The former World Champion tipped the star to continue improving, noting that a recent match against Athena got him pumped up.
“Just as a suggestion, I was like, ‘On Bloodsport, you wrestle barefoot. I’m not saying you should wrestle barefoot, if you don’t want to, then don’t, it’s all good, but the fact that you were barefoot drew my eyes to your feet and it made me notice how good your footwork was. It made you look way more athletic. It added a whole new dimension.’ It created a whole new dynamic. I’m just trying to get her to loosen up, and she has. She works really hard to work on these little things. She goes out there to get better every single time.
I’m just trying to get her to be loose and do what she knows how to do. She already knows how to do everything she knows, it’s just putting it where it needs to go and all these little things. That just takes experience. One of the matches she had, I think it was against Athena, they had a good amount of time, not just four or five minutes. Once they hit halfway through the match and were in a good sweat and warmed up, you saw her change gears. Seeing that, that’s what I’ve been waiting to see. It’s so subtle, but I could notice it, and when she got into the zone and changed gears, it pumped me up.”
Jon Moxley Wasn’t Under Contract While AEW World Champion
During the same interview, Moxley opened up about some of the backstage issues that have blighted AEW in the summer of 2022. While discussing his rivalry with CM Punk, Moxley surprisingly revealed that he wasn’t actually under contract during this period, this is despite him holding the AEW World Championship.
H/t to Fightful