When it comes to the most intimidating women in professional wrestling, Marina Shafir’s name is one of the first to come to mind. Her MMA background and role as an enforcer for the Death Riders have made her one of the toughest competitors in the ring, while her growing presence on the microphone has positioned her for the biggest opportunity of her AEW career.

Shafir will step into the ring with Mercedes Moné on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Full Gear to challenge for the AEW Women’s World Championship. It’s the culmination of Shafir’s growing on-screen presence, increased opportunities on the microphone and more chances to showcase her in-ring work, all of which have led to her first-ever world title match.

Ahead of the biggest match of her AEW career, Shafir sat down with Forbes to discuss Jon Moxley’s advice that has resonated with her, her upcoming showdown with Moné at Full Gear and the tragic passing of PAC.

AEW’s Marina Shafir Talks Jon Moxley’s Best Advice, PAC And Full Gear

Wolkenbrod: Broadly speaking, how would you assess what the year 2026 has meant for your career?

Shafir: Man, this is like the fifth time I’ve been asked what something means to me, and I can’t tell you what the f**k any of this means to me until it’s over. I feel like that’s a jinx. The fact that I’m here about to wrestle the world champion, I think, is a tell in itself. What the f**k does it mean to me? It means that I, like Mox says, I just want more hard work. This business is about hard work. It’s about consistency. It’s about resilience. It’s about doing the s**t that nobody f*****g wants to do. And I’m not just saying about the job and the wrestling. I’m saying the intrinsic part of it. Like, you have to have some intrinsic navigation towards something, even if you don’t know what the f**k it clearly is. You don’t need to. It means the f*****g world to me that I get this opportunity, but at the same time, it means that I get an opportunity to like revolutionize this game a little bit more. And as a champion, I feel like change would be assumed, and if you’re not changing anything as a champion, then you weren’t really meant to be a champion in the beginning. And I’ve revolutionized and evolved and changed so much, and I haven’t held gold in this company yet.

Wolkenbrod: When you talk about revolutionizing the business, what does that look like to you in AEW?

Shafir: I have a really hard time complimenting myself, so I don’t. I really don’t know. I don’t. That’s one of those things where I’d like to hear what people would think.

Wolkenbrod: Looking at the strides you’ve made in the ring, how much of your MMA background still factors into how you train and approach your matches on Dynamite, Collision and at pay-per-views?

Shafir: Everything. If I abandon any of that, who the f**k would I be right now? If I decided to abandon it on Saturday, who the f**k do you think I’d be then? I have my understanding and my foundation and the things that I lean on when I’m fighting in these matches. It’s down to like those little tiny things, and I think those little tiny things resonate way more than like bigger moments for me. Like, that’s what my whole career these last two and a half, almost three years has been. Little tiny opportunities and being able to fortify every single one of them. It’s prepared me for this. It’s prepared me to have an open mind. It’s prepared me to open up other people’s minds, and I hope it’s inspired a lot of women to trust their paths and trust their lineage, or whatever foundational thing that they decided to do to get them at any point in their professional wrestling careers.

Wolkenbrod: Of those tiny moments you mentioned, which one do you feel you capitalized on the most?

Shafir: When I decided not to like give anything up of myself that I didn’t want to anymore. I didn’t want to. I just didn’t want to. There was a point where I felt like I either gotta like get in line with everybody else or just double down on who I already was because I wasn’t, like I said this before, I wasn’t the shiniest toy in the f*****g box, and that was special to me. I didn’t realize how special that aspect of myself was. I still don’t. It’s still weird to talk about. Like, I have a really hard time saying nice things about myself because I feel like we’re always a work in progress, and I think that’s a big one. Like, I just didn’t. I knew what I wanted to do and I knew what I didn’t want to do. I understood what felt right and I understood what didn’t. And even if there were things that I had to do that were kind of like outside of who I was, well, I would just do it as me, and then that ended up turning into good things. So following my instinct, that confirmed for me that I should probably continue to follow my instincts.

Wolkenbrod: I’m sure you’ve been asked about your on-screen dynamic with Jon Moxley quite a bit, but I’m curious, is there one piece of advice he’s given you that’s really stuck with you, especially this year?

Shafir: Simply, you’re supposed to have fun, and sometimes in the moment you have to work to have fun, and it may not happen imminently. It may not happen immediately. It may not happen within however much time frame you think it should happen. But like having fun is the goal, because if you’re having fun, that resonates. However it is you have fun. Maybe it’s silently. Maybe it’s connivingly. I don’t want to say like kind of like in a criminal type of way, but outlaws have fun, right? They just have their own kind of fun, and that was the biggest piece of advice that he gave me from the beginning, and it helped me relax, and it helped me open up my mind to literally all the possibilities that have led up until this point, and then it opened up my mind for the future because that’s what we’re always like aiming for, the unknown. I like not knowing what the f**k is going on. I’ve become very addicted to not knowing what is going on. I don’t complain about not knowing what the f**k is going on because I love surprises, and like I’ve said before, in professional wrestling, it’s one of life’s greatest surprises if you choose to not be a f*****g know-it-all.

Wolkenbrod: Has there been a particular moment when Moxley’s advice about having fun really clicked for you?

Shafir: I think Anarchy in the Arena was the first time I really felt it. Anarchy in the Arena was really the first time when I got to, like, throw down with a frying pan. That was very fun for me. I got to pay respect to my mom. I wanted to let her know that a lot came through a pan. My parents came here with f*****g nothing but a cast-iron pan. And like I’m not lying. Like when we immigrated here, we could only take immediate things, and one of the things that she packed was her cast-iron pan. She still has it, and I just wanted to pay respect and let her know that her decision was not for nothing. And that was fun for me.

Wolkenbrod: I know this will be a difficult question to answer, but how much did PAC mean to you, both in the ring and outside of it?

Shafir: I only got a really small slice of the pie with him. I get to work with like my brothers who f*****g have known him for 20-plus years, and for 20-plus years he was like an outstanding man. He was just head over heels in love with his wife, and loved what he did, and was so passionate. He was such a perfectionist, and no one ever made him feel bad about it. And I just felt very lucky to like be able to be around him and bounce ideas and just like vibe with this guy. He let not just me but like all of us in, and I don’t know what it means. I hate that it’s such a tough question to answer. You don’t realize how important this s**t is until you get to work with someone who shows you how important this s**t is, and I got to see that. Not just like through a screen. I got to be there and see his passion and see his intent and see just the demon that he f*****g was inside. And it was invigorating. It was so f*****g cool. And I think I get upset because we all know that was a man who was cut from a different cloth. They don’t make people like him anymore. He was such a perfectionist, and he was such a hard worker, and he stood on everything that he believed in, and it was f*****g beautiful, man. If that’s what you appreciate, and we all did, it was something very special, something absolutely just beautiful, like a once-in-a-lifetime human being. I don’t ever want to stop talking about him. Like, my one connection to him is being out there and being in a squared circle. And I’m very fortunate and grateful, and I feel very lucky that I get to do that.

Wolkenbrod: Thank you for sharing that. I know it’s obviously a very sensitive subject.

Shafir: It is, but at the same time, it’s like I want to celebrate everything that he has done. He sacrificed so much, and he did so f*****g much, especially when people didn’t want to f*****g do it. He opened up my eyes to what types of opportunities we have. And you don’t realize, you just don’t realize how special that is. And it sucks that you have to lose somebody like that to understand that s**t. It’s not fair. And like, I will remember him. I will always—I will never forget him.

I’ve learned too recently that grief is just another form of love. And he was a foundational piece of us. No one will fit. No one’s trying to fit. That’s the thing too. Like, because they know they can’t. And like we all just must honor him whenever we can. That’s how I feel.

Wolkenbrod: One thing that’s really stood out to me about your interactions with Mercedes Moné is the contrast in your styles. What’s been the most interesting part of building this rivalry with her? And is there anything about her approach to the business that you admire or have learned from, despite your differences?

Shafir: Oh my God, absolutely, absolutely. She knows who she is. I respect the f**k out of that. Do you know how many people I work with who just think they know who they are? Like the way she carries herself, what she brings to the table is untouchable. It really is, and her work ethic is admirable. I work really, really hard. She works really, really, really hard, and I’ve always had a massive amount of respect for that. How she carries herself and what she wants, the message that she’s trying to emulate or like send, I don’t really agree with that, but it is what it is. And the only way I can respect that is to not waste any of her time because time is money, and I’m going to give her her money’s worth because my time is money.

Wolkenbrod: Going into your first world title match, what expectations do you put on yourself? Do you feel like you have something to prove to yourself, to the fans, or both?

Shafir: I think it’s very important for me to remember that the only competition I ever really had was me. I was my biggest enemy, and if I’m coming in on Saturday with anything, it’s to remind everyone, mainly myself, that I am my own worst enemy, and I need to prove to myself that not only do I deserve to be in front of her, I deserve to dominate every f*****g ounce of that squared circle with her, and I need to fortify myself in front of her as my witness, and I will.

This conversation and been edited and condensed for clarity.