Marina Shafir Reveals She Thought She’d be Part of The Diamond Mine in WWE NXT

– Speaking to Fightful, former WWE NXT Superstar Marina Shafir revealed that she was planned to be part of The Diamond Mine stable, along with her real-life husband Roderick Strong, before her release. Below are some highlights:

Marina Shafir on the stop and start pushes in WWE: “It was something that I talked a lot with Roddy [Strong] about, like getting a feel. I was getting put in these positions and I needed to understand why I was in those positions. I was feeling very insecure because it was a lot of start and stop. I was cleaning up a lot of the things that were sloppy. Asking different questions. Seeing a different light or seeing a different perspective on wrestling itself. The start and the stop, I tried not to get too much into my head about, but I would get insecure. Roddy was there to remind me, ‘If you keep putting your nose to the ground and keep busting your ass. It’s timing. A lot about this is timing.’ When everything is lined up how it should be, you’ll know. Everything was lined up how it should be and now we’re here.”

On how she expected to be part of The Diamond Mine: “Oh, no. I thought it was gonna be there. I thought I was gonna be part of it from the beginning. But they just had other plans. What could I do with it? I can’t be upset when somebody else’s mind is made up. I have my feelings about it. I’ve trained with Ivy Nile since she got to the PC pretty much. If anybody’s a fitting character for that position, she’s gonna learn a lot. She’s gonna learn so much in that position. I just hope that she carries it and makes it a big fucking thing. Female fighters, female MMA athletes are more and more of a predominant fucking thing in the athletic scene. It’s still the shock and the conversations that I’ve had with people who are still so surprised at how intense and how hard and how consistent female athletes are in the gym nowadays, it’s hilarious. For me, I just hope that she really understands how big this role can be for her. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again if anybody gets the green light in the past and the thumbs up, I’m giving it to her. It’s just a great spot to be in to learn.”

On not being part of the stable: “I was totally bummed. I was very bummed about not being able to be a part of that. But it just comes to a point where you’ve gotta lean into the positives of all this.”

Shafir was released by WWE last June.