MLW returns for one of the biggest wrestling events so far in 2021 as 'Never Say Never' takes place Wednesday on DAZN at 7 p.m. ET.
One of the marquee matches on the show is Shawn Daivari, representing Contra Unit, taking on Myron Reed of Injustice.
After going through a major back surgery, Daivari has returned to the ring and is also a producer for the company. In his biggest matchup since coming back to action, Daivari talks with DAZN News about the match, the adjustment of wrestling without fans and what separates MLW from other wrestling promotions.
(Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
DAZN News: Considering last year was a wash for a lot of people, how did 2020 feel for you?
Shawn Daivari: I don't want to complain, because of how bad the pandemic has been for so many people. Over 500,000 people died, so it's really hard for me to complain. I was working with WWE as a producer and I was part of the pandemic cuts. That did suck a little bit. I always look at the flip side of it. If someone I love or a close friend or family member died of COVID-19, I couldn't care less about losing my job. I won't complain. I won't cry personally. I can also give it a silver lining that getting let go from WWE opened up new opportunities for me like working with Court Bauer and MLW.
DN: How long do you want to wrestle for because you're only 36, you're still pretty young in the grand scheme of things?
SD: I don’t have a hard number. Generally speaking, wrestlers do their best work from about 35 to 40 and then they fall apart. I feel like I'm in that window now and especially with my body healed up, I'm in that window. Now, I have some years where I probably can put out my best work, which will quickly be followed by my worst year. By the time I feel like I roll into the early 40s, I definitely want to be figuring out the idea of how to wrap it up. I think maybe another four or five years like doing this in a full schedule and still get out without needing a second back operation.
DN: How much of it in adjustment has it been for you to be able to wrestle without having fans at the arena?
SD: It's been terrible. I am not good at not hearing what the audience needs or what I need to give them at this stage in my career. If I was in this pandemic in like 2000, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, it would have been no problem to just put a match together and have it. But as the years went on, I got so used to just tuning my ear to what the audience was primed for, to what to give them or what they need or what they were bored with that I would wrestle more like if I wanted them to, or if I wanted the audience to be concerned for my opponent here I would figure it out and throw a dropkick. I just trust my referees time cues. I've tried all I've been doing but I need that. Since I've been back wrestling from that 18-month hiatus, I have yet to have the opportunity to rock a crowd. I really feel I need to hear that to really get my confidence back. Every match I have is like absolute silence. When you're in the wrestling business, you know that silence is the worst thing you can have. People got to be making noise. They can cheer you or they can boo you, but silence is like, 'find another job.' That's what everything feels like. Everything feels like, ‘Oh, I must have s— the bed because it was silent.’
DN: One of things I notice about MLW that is lacking in the other companies is the consistency of storylines. It just feels like week after week the storylines in MLW are consistent. Is that a fair assessment to make?
SD: Yes. I was a part of the producing process of these MLW episodes that have been coming out in this new season. I will say from what we went over in the production meeting, and what Court provides us on the scripts to what we execute at the actual production date was exactly what we went over. Every other wrestling company I've ever had the opportunity to work behind the scenes, that just doesn't happen. Whether it's by the way they operate their system, whether it's injuries, or people being not available, logistical problems, whatever, it just always happens, those always changes. Some places more than others. I think that when you do it on the fly like that, it has a domino effect. When you change something in one segment or one episode, it has a domino effect in the other world. That's when you don't have, 'we have a lot of holes in your storytelling, you don't have as tight of a narrative.' I believe Court believes in that as well as that you put the time and effort in the material, and then you go execute it. You can do it the other way around but if an architect spends 50 hours putting blueprints together, it’s going to be a better blueprint then the one put together on the production side of the day of.
DN: What do you make of the MLW product at the current time?
SD: The wrestling fan in me loves the variety of it. Still baffles my mind that so many people have so many hours of programming, but you see a lot of the same s— segment after segment, week after week. I think a TV show like Saturday Night Live. If Saturday Night Live was just two hours of political talk it would be boring pretty quick. But they start off with a monologue, they move into a commercial parody, they do a skit and then they have a music performance, then they have the Weekend Update. A variety of SNL makes the watch very easy. That's something MLW does very well. You can have some extremely amazing high flying action like Lio Rush earlier in the night. Then later on, you might have Contra in a hardcore match, a street fight or something that I have coming up with Myron Reed. Whereas I find myself with other wrestling programs, I'll fast forward through and just pick out segments I like.
DN: You talked about Myron Reed and you're facing him at Never Say Never on March 31 on DAZN. What do you make of Myron Reed at this stage as a performer?
SD: As a performer at this stage in his career, I think he has everything, all the upside ahead of him. It's one of those things where you never know sometimes talent stops developing. Sometimes someone gets better every year and when they hit that five-year window, and then they never get any better. Or they hit that eight-year window and then they never do any better. Myron is one of those talents in that every year he's on the job, he keeps improving. He keeps working on his promos. He's one of those guys that every year he's on the job, he just improves a little bit. He is someone that never rests on his laurels. I think the guy's success is gonna be undeniable.