For a period of time, the WWE had two quartets of women both labeled as The Four Horsewomen of their respective sports, and despite constant fantasy booking and allusions to it, the two sides never clashed. Having now left the company, Marina Shafir spoke on why, blaming 'egos' as the root cause for it all.RELATED: Becky Lynch Could Be Back In Time For Survivor Series WarGames
Marina Shafir Blames Backstage Politics For Never Getting Four Horsewomen Feud
As the NXT women's division picked up steam in the mid 2010s, the class of Bayley, Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks ended up being called The Four Horsewomen of NXT, and later of the WWE as their careers stayed interlinked as they all crossed paths on the main roster. Bit-by-bit, WWE signed members of The Four Horsewomen of MMA, training partners that shared a bond in the fighting circles, Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir. It seemed obvious that an eventual war between the two was coming.
'Egos were at play,' said Marina Shafir on the latest edition of The Sessions with Renee Paquette. 'There's too many f****** cooks in the kitchen sometimes, yknow? In more ways than one,' she added, clearly careful not to name names in a public interview like this. 'I just feel like professional wrestling was a little more exclusive back in the day,' Shafir continued, 'It wasn't just about politicking, it was about like really showing respect and not kissing ass...and not feeling like you have to give something up of yourself to take it to the next level'.
It is unclear who exactly Shafir might be referencing with her comments, but the content of her words statements definitely suggest some resentment towards the competitors. With the clip hitting social media, Bayley was quick to reply as only The Role Model can;
RELATED: Bianca Belair Names Rhea Ripley As Her Dream Wrestlemania Opponent
Would The Four Horsewomen vs. The Four Horsewomen Have Worked?
The closest the WWE ever really came to teasing a Horsewomen vs. Horsewomen war came with Shayna Baszler's appearance in the Mae Young Classic. Members from both stables were sitting at ringside during the event, flashing the four-finger hand signal to the cameras, and to their rivals. As the other mixed martial artists signed, a tag match at a big event seemed logical, easily fitting the Survivor Series format, or even being a marquee attraction at Evolution or WrestleMania.
If anything, one of the key points that held back the potential feud was the development of Shafir and Duke in NXT. Baszler debuted in WWE as an already experienced pro wrestler, and despite mixed fan reaction, Rousey has proven to be a main event player for the WWE. Shafir and Duke never truly got out of the starting blocks in NXT, rarely wrestling on television whilst acting as Baszler's muscle. A cameo appearance in RAW Underground was the extent of their main roster experience, both later released, Duke out of the wrestling world for now, Shafir now in AEW. The timing was just never there for it to happen, and perhaps that is for the best.
TheSportster Podcast has returned! Check out the latest episodes of the show where Jim Parsons and Norman Quarrinton cover the latest news and events happening in the worlds of WWE, AEW and more!
