Marina Shafir Reveals Real-Life Gym Fight with Male Co-Worker Before ROH Title Match

Marina Shafir had more to fight through than just her ROH Women’s Title match against Athena—she says a former male coworker physically attacked her in the gym that same morning. During an episode of Rulebreakers with Saraya, Shafir opened up about a disturbing incident that left her bruised, bleeding, and furious—just hours before performing on live television.

Sticking to her strict pre-show workout, Shafir was in the middle of her treadmill warm-up when a man she recognized from her MMA gym days in Tampa jumped on the treadmill next to her and tried to mirror her routine. It didn’t go well.

“I’m not going to name his name, because I’m not like that… but somebody that I used to work with hopped onto the treadmill next to me, tried to copy my workout. When he went to go backwards — slips — takes a back bump onto the [expletive] treadmill, like the frame.”

“Back bumped on the thing, and I stopped my [expletive] treadmill. I’m like, ‘Are you good?’ And he’s like, ‘Oh yeah, yeah, I definitely can’t be doing that.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah man, just don’t do that.’”

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Shafir left the room to continue stretching in private. That’s when things escalated. While sipping water, she says the man ran up and violently shoved her from behind, causing her to hit the wall and cut her gums.

“All of a sudden I get [expletive] shoved from behind. I’m taking a sip of my water bottle, and it wasn’t a soft shove, man. I felt like I just got tackled. My water bottle hits the wall, cuts me in the gums. Water is just everywhere. I just pause for a second. I turn around and he’s just standing over me going like, ‘Come on, come on, I know you [expletive] want some.'”

Two AEW colleagues witnessed the incident but froze.

“I look over at them and I’m like, ‘He’s being serious right now, right?’ I just went from Marina in reality to Marina seeing red. They’re just holding weights, frozen, like deer in headlights.”

Shafir responded instinctively, using her MMA background to shut the man down.

“I got up. I stood southpaw just to [expletive] with him. I faked a left. Took a big step. Just hooked the [expletive] out of it. Raised his [expletive] chin right up. He goes to shoot for a double. I stuffed that [expletive], grabbed him by the front face lock, chucked him. He tried to pop up again — stuffed it again.”

Then she let him know she wasn’t playing.

“My headphones pop out. And I just remember the last thing I remember saying is: ‘I will [expletive] take your money. Don’t ever [expletive] touch me ever again.'”

Despite being shaken, she offered him a towel—but his response was just as strange.

“I go over to grab a towel, like, ‘I’m so sorry.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh it’s okay, my lips are chapped.’ And I’m like… what the [expletive]?!”

Shafir reflected on how professionalism can often be misread as weakness.

“And that’s the thing — when you’re nice and you’re professional and you’re nice — people take that as an invitation every time. I had to literally [expletive] draw the line.”

She immediately left a voice message for her husband, AEW star Roderick Strong. “I cannot believe I’m about to tell you this…” His response? “Are you [expletive] serious? He’s so [expletive] lucky I wasn’t there.”

Even Ricky Starks walked into the gym moments later and, seeing the aftermath, joked, “Oh [expletive], you’re going to be fired.”

Still, Marina pulled herself together and got through show day like a pro.

“I think I handled it okay. Ricky Starks walked in right after and goes, ‘Oh [expletive] you’re going to be fired.’ I was nervous… but then I had to go on with the day like nothing [expletive] happened. It was such a stressful thing.”

Marina Shafir’s story isn’t just shocking—it’s a reminder of how even the strongest among us aren’t immune from being harassed, disrespected, or pushed to the edge.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.