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Friday, October 26, 2007

Shawn "Khosrow" Daivari On The Main Event Interview Recap

Courtesy of The Main Event:

SHOW: The Main Event, Sunday Mornings from

10:30am -12:00pm on www.MainEventRadio.com and 1690AM in Montreal
Hosts: "Reporter" Ryan Rider and Steve Rockamaniac

Can Be Downloaded At: http://www.MainEventRadio.com

-On His WWE Release: "Awhile ago I was offered a new contract to re-sign with WWE, they were trying to meet me on my demands but we couldn't come to a conclusion on the creative end...it was not something they could for sure promise, so I went separately to creative and both Vince and Stephanie McMahon and asked to get out of my current deal early."

-On the Great Khali's Translator replacing him: "I was told by creative that they had separate plans for me and him. I actually don't think there was supposed to be anybody with Khali for awhile. There was one member of the creative team who spoke the same language (out of 7) which is Hindi and once they saw that they just decided to put them together to help with the promos."

-When asked about the cruiserweight division: "I was never really in the loop. There was several times where they tried to reboot it. Sometimes they wanted to run with one or two guys, other times they felt the division was so small they wanted to involve all the guys. As for a title run, I was never told I was, never told I wasn't. There were so many talented guys, and unfortunately there wasn't enough time in a 2 hour broadcast to showcase all of them. That's why a lot of the time you'd see 6-man, 4-man, 8-man tags involving more people than just the champion and whoever was running with it."

-On leaving a guaranteed contract with WWE to pursue other options: "I'm actually out of town right now, my schedule is pretty full with shows coming up every weekend; autograph signings, a lot of conventions and stuff coming up. I've received several offers from different Japan companies about going there. I have a 90-day no compete clause so I haven't officially talked with TNA but I watch their show and I like their product a lot and they're willing to give me an opportunity to do business there I'd be more than happy to go there.

-Spending much of his tenure as a manager rather than a wrestler: "WWE felt that I was such a strong heel that they put me with Kurt Angle…it was a huge compliment." Mark Henry came back from a pretty severe injury, and they didn't have the luxury of 3-4 months so they put me on him for quick heat. "I didn't take it like they didn't have faith in me as a wrestler; I just took it as pretty big compliment that they thought I had so much heat."

-About Muhammed Hassan: "I can't speak exactly what happened with him because I don't have all the details and stuff. We still talk on a bi-weekly basis. We got our start together. It was unfortunate was happened, there's always circumstances outside of your control. In hindsight, it wasn't that big a deal but at the time it kinda sucked."

-Leaving the door open for a future WWE return: "When I left from John Laurianitis to Vince McMahon, every one of them said when you're ready to come back we'll be more than ready to have you. Now that I've been there for a few years, at this point in my career I'd like to work as much as possible and stay healthy."

-On travelling with Mark Henry, Hornswoggle, and Khali: "That was our little circus group we had. I don't know how it came about. It was the biggest concoction of freaks and geeks. We had a terrorist, a midget, the world's strongest man who looked like a big black gorilla and a giant from India. I remember one time we were speeding through a town…we got pulled over by a police officer and he got more and more shocked. He was like what the hell have I got myself into?"

-Memorable Moments: "Working with Hogan is a highlight. Working with Hulk Hogan period, working with Hogan during a comeback, and working with Hogan at a Wrestlemania. People beg for one, and we did all three in one night! Obviously working with a whole bunch of guys…Hogan, Michaels, Undertaker, John Cena. Not many people in the world can say they've been in the Piper's Pit and I can say I was able to do that. A lot of the friends I made like Hurricane, Christian, Masters, Carlito…really good friends of mine today until the time I retire. I'm only in my seventh, maybe eighth year wrestling. I plan on having a 25-30 year career. To say I've already had my favourite wrestling moments is a little superstitious because I don't know what the future holds."

Message to the Mainstream Media: "You can't take a couple of people and generalize a whole business around them. There are thousands and thousands of wrestlers out there. It's absolutely ridiculous when the media covers a handful of guys over and over and over again. It's really just a handful of people. A couple of bad apples don't ruin a product. To say the entire business is like that [full of steroids and psychos] is a pretty big accusation."

-Next, Daivari spoke about his trainers Eddie Sharkey and Adnan El Kassey. Sharkey trained the Road Warriors, Rick Rude, Sean Waltman, among others and had a pretty big influence on their careers as well as his own. El Kassey taught Daivari more about what helped him, what worked, what didn't work with the audience.

-On the Iron Sheik: "He seems to like me for some reason. Every time I see him we sit down and shoot the stuff for 30-40 minutes. I'm fortunate to see him every once in awhile, we hang out and talk. He's a great guy, I think he's got a whole other run in him; there's a whole different side of him that the people haven't seen. When we sit down and talk he's as normal as normal can get. Part of him knows when that red light on the camera turns on, he's on."