Ari Daivari believes it’s very important to rein talent in as a producer in All Elite Wrestling, so they remain healthy and are able to perform on a weekly basis.
Leader of The Trustbusters, Ari Daivari, was the latest guest on AEW Unrestricted with Tony Schiavone and Aubrey Edwards to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about his backstage role as a producer in All Elite Wrestling, Daivari spoke on learning about the business before he even got into it, thanks to his older brother Shawn.
“One thing I really like to pride myself on in my wrestling career, and I give a lot of credit to my older brother Shawn. Before I even broke into wrestling, he was already in the WWE, and he knew I wanted to become a wrestler too,” Ari Daivari said. “So he was always giving me advice that he would get from guys in WWE, and I’m talking legendary guys. Chris Jericho, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels. Eddie Guerrero. You know, all those types of guys were giving him advice because he was kinda like Dante Martin minus all the athleticism.
“He was a 20-21-year-old in a WWE locker room. He got signed really young. So he was getting tons of advice from these legendary performers. And then he would come home, and he would tell me about it. Eddie Guerrero told me this, Chris Jericho told me this, The Undertaker told me this, but I was getting all this information about psychology before I even got into wrestling. And then, once I started wrestling, I always kind of kept those things in mind. So I really feel like I have a good grasp on that just because I kind of had a little bit of a leg up.”
Daivari said that he knew producing was something he wanted to try while he was in WWE. He noted that Pat Buck eventually spoke with Tony Khan about having him produce in AEW, and Daivari made it clear that he’d love to help out anywhere he could.
“So that’s how that kind of came about. And then I started working with the girls, and a big part of this job, especially here in AEW, it’s such a talented roster. Maybe back in like 2004 to 2007, when there’s some wrestlers on TV, some of those guys who are brand new didn’t know anything about wrestling. A producer or an agent or whatever you like to call it, they would have to take those guys by the wrist and plan spot by spot, plan exactly what they’re doing because they needed that kind of help, and without an agent, they were screwed.
“Here in AEW, we have an extremely talented roster, and I’m not just saying that literally from top to bottom, our men’s division, women’s division, everybody’s good, and it’s kind of obvious because Tony Khan really prides himself on having banger matches work rate, his roster is stacked. So a producer here, I kind of feel like is almost sometimes reining talent back just a little bit further for their own good.
“Because we got some wild, crazy guys and girls who are dedicated to this business and if you don’t rein them back a little bit, they’re gonna go out there and potentially kill themselves for the love of the business, which ain’t a bad thing to have that mentality but sometimes you just want to kind of rein it back just a little bit like hey, we got week to week TV, I need you here next week. You can’t kill yourself on this show because we need you here next week and the week after and the week after that and the pay-per-view after and all that kind of stuff. So, being a producer, you just sometimes want to help instill the psychology. Make sure some of the old school rules live on while still adding a new school flavor to it.”
READ MORE: Tony Khan Responds To Criticism Of The Trustbusters’ Push
What do you make of Ari Daivari’s comments? Do you think the producers do a good job with the matches in All Elite Wrestling? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit AEW Unrestricted with a link back to this article for the transcription.
