Marina Shafir On the Strangeness Of Grieving PAC On TV, How It’s Affected Her Going Into AEW Full Gear

The passing of PAC continues to weigh on the AEW roster’s mind, something Marina Shafir recently reflected on heading into AEW Full Gear. PAC’s passing in late September after AEW All Out has been referenced on AEW TV out of necessity and to give the roster and fans a chance to grieve over the matter, but it also means that the roster has been left processing their grief in real time on national television.

Shafir reflected on the matter in her appearance on Close Up With Renee Paquette. She summed it up succinctly as “f**ked” and noted that the grieving hasn’t fully hit her yet. She also noted that the situation made it hard for her to feel good about having a Women’s World Championship match against Mercedes Mone at Full Gear. You can see the highlights below:

On the Process of Grieving PAC’s Passing:

“I think for each of us individually, it’s happened privately. It definitely happened as a group. I think France was the one where it hit different personally. It’s — I’m just going to let it hit me when it’s supposed to hit me. I’m not running from it; I’m not hiding from it. It just — the grieving hasn’t happened yet for me… it’s hard to even talk about like, my friend is gone.”

On the Strangeness Of Grieving In Real-Time On AEW TV:

“It’s f**ked. Can I say that? It’s totally f**ked. I think about it all the time. Sometimes I think if Ben wouldn’t have passed, would I be sitting here with you? I think eventually, yeah. Imminently, no.

“It was hard for me to feel good about having that opportunity with her [Mone]. I straight up told her after the match, I went right to her and I said, ‘I have a lot of respect for you, and I always — always — wanted to stand across the ring from you. Not under these circumstances. Because unfortunately for her, she’s going to feel my grief, and I don’t know what that’s going to look like. I don’t know. I hate thinking about it.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit AEW with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.