During a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet, former WWE Superstar Ariya Daivari commented on the backstage reactions to Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman’s WWE releases, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On bonding with his brother over wrestling: “Yeah we just started watching together. He was 14 and I was 8. We just started watching together, he was the one who discovered it but we watched it together, which was super cool. Just over time he got to be an indie wrestler first, obviously. That’s why his career took off before mine did, he’s just older. We were big fans together. He had all the T-shirts and I had all the toys. It actually brought us a lot closer. We were just typical brothers, we hung out but not a lot. But pro wrestling really brought us closer and closer and to this day that’s why we are super tight.”
On considering working under a different name in WWE: “I kept going back and forth on it. I didn’t want people to think ‘oh he’s just Shawn’s brother.’ And I have to admit he was in at a time when the wrestling industry was even hotter. He had a lot more eyes on his career back in 2004. Some people went ‘oh cheap ripoff.’ But whatever. I was proud of the fact that I made it to the WWE at my size and keep my name. It is all me being presented as me.”
On the reactions to WWE releases backstage: “My own brother was recently part of the COVID releases. Only just recently he was brought back, which I am very happy for. I was very upset when he got released during COVID. After the COVID releases happened I was like it sucks but I survived I think I will be good. Then there’s been 3 waves of firings in 2021. When Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman got released, the whole roster from top to bottom, RAW, SmackDown, NXT was like’oh s**t. If they are letting guys like Braun and Samoa Joe go, it could be anybody.’ I would say for the last 4 to 5 months I wasn’t expecting it, because I was wrestling all of the time. But a small part of me said that if it was going to happen, it might be around this time. Unfortunately it did.”
