Shawn Daivari on Fight Network Radio

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Former WWE star Shawn Daivari was a guest on Fight Network Radio this past Monday with John Pollock and guest co-host Dan Lovranski. You can catch Fight
Network Radio every Monday – Friday at 3pm EST on Hardcore Sports Radio on Sirius Channel 186 and archived on
www.hardcoresportsradio.com
Interviewer: We would like to welcome former WWE talent Shawn Daivari to the show. Shawn right out of the gate you were recently let go by the WWE. We just
wanted to talk with you, what went down between you and the WWE last week?
Shawn: Pretty much what happened was the whole thing was a few months in the making. They offered me a new contract for another 3 years to wrestle for
them and I just told them a few things I was looking to do before I resigned my contract creatively and professionally. We kind of met on all of the professional
and business end of stuff and then on the creative that’s kind of something you can’t really guarantee in writing. Then with what they told me I wasn’t
100% sure I necessarily agreed with it. So once we really couldn’t come to a conclusion on what to do creatively I just told them I am not going to resign
this new contract for the 3 more years. Obviously if I’m not going to hang around I’m not going to waste your guys time and just run out this contract,
if you don’t mind I would like to get out of this contract early. This was to Vince McMahon and Vince sent me to John Laurinaitis who runs account relations
and they were all really cool with it. They really appreciated me not dicking them around till the last second and then be like oh sorry, I’m not going
to sign it. They really appreciated me being up front with them from the get go.
Interviewer: So it was creative issues Shawn, can you be more specific? Like was it something they wanted to do with the Daivari character or was it something
you just didn’t agree with?
Shawn: No, it was just more a general direction of certain things I wanted to do and then not necessarily they agreed that they had planned on doing those
things. Or even at that point in time Vince even for sure said himself that “It doesn’t necessarily mean that these things you want to do won’t happen,
it’s just that I don’t see them happening right now.” That was kind of one of those things where I was like well if it’s not going to happen, I am not
going to really elaborate on too much personally on where I felt the character could go or should go and where they felt it could or should go.
Interviewer: Right. Were some of the contract hold ups, you’ve been absent on Raw for about the past month or so. Did that coincide with the contract negotiations
that you guys were trying to work out?
Shawn: You know I don’t know. That might have been it that might not. I really have no idea what goes on in those booking meetings. I couldn’t tell you
but it very well could have or might have just been a coincidence that had nothing to do it. So I really don’t know.
Interviewer: So what is the plan now Shawn? I mean you’re a really young guy; your career is really just getting started in professional wrestling. Are
you going to take a break now, are you going to look for work elsewhere, do the Indys? What’s kind of the plan now?
Shawn: I have already started wrestling with in the terms of my 90 days no compete clause with the WWE. I am able to do all the shows that they have allowed
me to. I did a double shot this weekend, I did 2 shows. I have a whole bunch of stuff; my calendar is filling up super quickly with promoters all over
the country who want me to come out. I received a couple of phone calls from different promotions in Japan who wanting me to go out there so. Anything
I am able to do within the terms of my 90 days till my contract becomes null and void, I’m taking every opportunity I can to stay in the ring and stay
in ring shape. This is what I love to do and it’s one of the only things in life that I am really good at. So for me to take wrestling out of my life it
would be like asking someone to not breath or not eat.
Interviewer: Right, right. So Shawn your no compete clause doesn’t really restrict you from independents, it’s more you wouldn’t be able to show up on TNA
next week but you could do independent dates?
Shawn: Well actually the no compete clause is I’m still under contract with the WWE but what it is pretty much saying is that 90 days from the date we agreed
on is when my contract will officially terminate. But WWE is really cool about letting me do certain things. Like I said if they really wanted to they
could say “You can not do a single thing for the next 90 days.” When I receive an offer from a promoter or someone wanting to use me for autograph signing
or convention or something, I just contact the office and say “So and so wants to use me on this date to wrestle a match or for an autograph signing or
whatever.” They have been really cool and been like “Ya go ahead and do it.”
Interviewer: Have you sent any feelers out to TNA? Has been any interest in that direction?
Shawn: There’s interest on my part, I don’t know about theirs. I watch their show every week, I think they have a good product and I think it is something
I could fit in to very well. Whether or not they have interest, I don’t know.
Interviewer: Now Shawn back to your debut in late 2004, you came in to the WWE along with Mark Copani who went under the name Muhammad Hassan doing a very
controversial angle playing off the tension of Americans and Muslims post 9/11. Were there reservations on your part being part of that angle?
Shawn: No not really because it was something I was doing on the independents before I got signed. The Daivari character I had done on WWE TV was the same
character I had been doing since my first day in wrestling so it was nothing new to me. So when they came and said that “You’re going to have to do this.
You’re going to have to that and whatever.” It was like tell me something I haven’t already done. That’s great; I have no problem with that. You know
I had already been doing it so it was nothing new. Which is the one reason I was pretty successful at it or it went so well was that you know when some
guys come to WWE TV and they say you’ve been ABC your whole career but now your going to be XYZ. For me I got to continue what I had been doing and had
several years experience doing.
Interviewer: Now despite that you had been doing a similar character weren’t you just a little bit worried about how this would play out on such a large
scale on the big screen? I would think if I was presented with that angle at the time I would be a little bit wary of being part of it.
Shawn: You know I can see how some people had reservations but this is something I deal with on an everyday bases. You know when it actually happened in
2001, 9/11 2001, I did feel, I felt like a majority my whole life and then after 9/11 I legitimately felt like a minority. I felt eyeballed, people looking
at me the wrong way. I felt the eyes going in the back of my head when I on an airplane and stuff but by the time 2004 rolled around, the end of 2004 beginning
of 2005, when I started I really felt all the heat had kind of died down. I kind of felt like part of majority again so I didn’t have any concerns on doing
it.
Interviewer: When they brought you in Shawn they gave you the name Khosrow Daivari, is that a direct tribute to the Iron Sheik?
Shawn: It was actually kind of funny; it was a couple of things. My dad, my father’s legitimate name is Khosrow Daivari and then the Iron Sheiks name is
Khosrow Daivari. It’s just so funny how we have Khosrow Daivari, Khosrow Daivari and then they pick Khosrow Daivari. You would think with all the million
Muslim names out there coincidently the only 3 surrounding me my whole career.
Interviewer: Did they ever bat the idea around of bringing Iron Sheik in with you guys because when you think of Middle Eastern heels there is really no
one higher on the radar for WWE fans than the Iron Sheik. I always thought it was natural to do a type of angle where he almost endorses you guys.
Shawn: I don’t know if that was actually an idea on the table but we thought about different stuff we could do with him several times. One thing the WWE
audience is very passionate about in performers and in what we do professionally; they are very passionate and show the utmost respect for the hall of
famers. I don’t know necessarily and how hard you try, I don’t think you could get a WWE fan to legitimately boo or dislike or give heat to a hall of famer
because they respect what they’ve done for so long, for so many years. Every time Iron Sheik comes out he gets a huge, positive crowd reaction. So to try
and pawn him off as a bad guy, I don’t know if it would work out that well today.
Interviewer: Your right, it would be pretty hard with all those vignettes he has done on you tube and the fact that he now has his own radio show where
he’s allowed to express himself. It is pretty hard to get heat on the Iron Sheik, that’s for sure. Shawn I wanted to ask you about when you and Hassan
had the big match with Hogan and Shawn Michaels at the one Backlash pay per view in 2005. I would have to guess for you that’s gotta be one of the big
career moments of your time in the WWE?
Shawn: Definitely for several reasons. From a personal point of view it was super great to work with 2 guys I idolized growing up and even 2 guys I idolize
for several reasons. From the younger part of my childhood to elementary age I looked up to Hulk Hogan as you know he was just this cool, larger than life
super hero that I absolutely adored. Then as I got older to my middle school, high school years, 12, 13, 14, 15, then Shawn Michaels was another on because
he was kind of cool. The performances he was putting on, nobody could put on a match better than Shawn Michaels, the performances he was putting out was
amazing. So these are from my childhood till today were 2 guys that I idolized and then to be able work with them from the offices point of view was wow.
That the offices had that much faith in us and that much priority that they are going to take their time of their top 2 baby face investments and of all
the people in the world they could put them with they put them with us. That was something that was a huge compliment and pat of the back when the office
thought we were the guys who could carry the ball and do that.
Interviewer: Shortly after that match Shawn the end of the Hassan, Daivari team was kind of put to rest after a very controversial angle July of 2005, it
was done where a number of hooded attackers came in to the ring, they were attacking the Undertaker while Hassan was praying on the ramp. Definitely pushing
the idea of terrorists being used on the program and UPN really freaked out about this. Tell us about being part of that angle and definitely struck a
lot of people the wrong way being that the London bombings just a few days after that angle was shot and then aired here in the U.S.
Shawn: I’m not 100% sure but I thought the London bombings happened that morning. I’m not really sure or maybe it was the day before I don’t remember exactly
but at the time when we did it Smackdown was taped on Wednesdays and when we taped on Wednesday to us it just seemed like a dramatic piece of television
just like anything you would see on 24. It just seemed like a very dramatic Middle Eastern thing. At the time when we did it, it came off really well,
all parties were happy with it. The process of TV going from the WWE to the network at that time, I don’t know what happens when they get it and when they
do get it whose control it’s in. When it actually happened Thursday morning I wasn’t even aware of it, I had slept in until like 2pm that day or what ever
I was doing. I believe the bombing happened that morning, that Thursday morning. I slept in till 2, got up went to the gym, ran my errands and then got
back and watched it. I even thought nothing of it, knowing the London bombings happening happened that morning till I watched CNN or the news the next
day or something. From the fall out of that I still to this day don’t know who was at fault. I don’t know if it was WWE was not able to edit it cause it
was in UPNs hands already or if UPN chose not to edit it or if they wanted to and WWE wouldn’t let them. I really have no idea of the process of what
happens to the TV show once it goes from the production team to the broadcasting company. So to the fall out of that I wish I could comment but to this
day I really have no idea what happened.
Interviewer: Right. One other thing we want to touch on here before we wrap up is that after that angle you kind of , they kind of put you in a manager
role. You were with Kurt Angle, Mark Henry, doing a great job with Great Khali as well. How did you take to that because you seem to be a natural at the
manager type roll?
Shawn: It was something; you know professionally that can be looked at a couple of different ways. That was something I always took as a compliment because
what they would do it, like say with Kurt Angle for example, at the time he was supposed to be the top bad guy feuding with John Cena but the audience
was reacting to him very positively. They really, really liked Kurt and for the office to be like lets put Daivari with him to make sure he stays a bad
guy. For them to have that much faith in me that they need to put me with one of their top guys to make sure our audience doesn’t turn him again that was
a huge compliment. The same thing with Mark Henry, they had Mark Henry and they said “You know this guys is getting ready for a main event title run, lets
put him with the Undertaker.” At that point he had been off TV for several months with an injury so once your off TV for a few months people quickly forget
so for them to say we need to put him with Daivari to get as much heat as possible, you know again another huge compliment from the office. As far as Khali
goes it was the same thing, they didn’t have the luxury of building a new character for a few weeks or a few months or a few pay per views to get him ready
for the main event. They had one week to get this guy ready for the main event because he had to work with the Undertaker that pay per view. When they
brought him in, the same thing, how can we get this guy as much heat a possible with not having the luxury of weeks to build him up, we need to get him
to the top of the card a.s.a.p. Again we should just put him with Daivari so you know. I do prefer wrestling over managing but like again from a professional
point of view for the office to have that much faith in my ability again was always a huge pat on the back.
Interviewer: Shawn we’ve got to wrap but quickly tell us where can fans and promoters get a hold of you online?
Shawn: If fans want to get a hold of me, if promoters want to get a hold of me to book me for wrestling clinics, whatever, they can contact
bookdaivari@hotmail.com
. That will get a hold of my agent or you can check out www.shawndaivari.com. You can get a hold of him and me though there.
Interviewer: Awesome, Shawn best of luck in the future and we look forward to having you back on TV very soon.
Shawn: Ok, thank you very much.
(Transcribed by Jenn Poczik)
John PollockC: 416-473-0584
Co-Host / Producer
Fight Network Radio Mon - Fri at 3:00 pm ESTHardcore Sports Radio on Sirius Channel 186
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