Top Death Riders member almost had a very different career

The Death Riders have been wreaking havoc on the AEW roster since last year. Shockingly, one of the faction's primary members has revealed that they nearly embarked on a very different career path.

The story of The Death Riders officially began when Marina Shafir aligned herself with Jon Moxley on AEW Dynamite last year. Since then, the Moldovan has been one of The One True King's most trusted allies - the latter, in fact, appointed her the protector of the AEW World Championship, keeping the title in a briefcase securely cuffed to her person.

Shafir has made a lot of enemies in course of her onslaught against the All Elite roster, and finally faced the consequences of her actions this Wednesday, being hospitalized by Willow Nightingale courtesy of a thunderous conchairto. The Problem has now disclosed that her career could have gone down a much different path, far away from the violence of the squared circle.

During her recent interview on Talk Is Jericho, Marina Shafir discussed working at a cafe in Tampa, Florida during her pregnancy around the time when her now-spouse Roderick Strong was in Orlando, having signed with WWE in 2016. She talked about her former aspirations to advance in the coffee industry, stating:

"He [Strong] was living in Orlando but I was still living in Tampa working. I was working at Buddy Brew Coffee in Tampa, and I worked there through my entire pregnancy, and I'm thinking 'alright, the world is my oyster. I'm going to own a f**king coffee shop, manage the coffee shop, we're going to take this coffee industry by storm' right?" - said Shafir. [H/T - Wrestling Inc]

Notably, Shafir's Death Riders stable-mate Claudio Castagnoli is also a well-known coffee enthusiast. Unfortunately, like Shafir, The Swiss Cyborg also suffered a conchairto - at the hands of Adam Copeland - this week on AEW Dynamite.

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Death Riders' Marina Shafir on her husband Roderick Strong

Elsewhere during the same interview, Marina Shafir discussed the travails of transitioning from mixed martial arts to professional wrestling. The Death Riders member opened up on the support she received from her partner Roderick Strong, who supposedly encouraged her to persist in the face of obstacles and setbacks.

"Roddy was my biggest supporter. He encouraged me to keep being who he knows. Even when you try and fail, just do it again. ... There are no f***ing roadblocks, it's all learning." [H/T Wrestling Inc]

Strong currently represents The Undisputed Kingdom in AEW, alongside his long-time allies Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly. The group recently challenged Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta and PAC for their AEW World Trios Titles, but were unsuccessful in their efforts.