Shawn Daivari

Dara Shawn Daivari (born April 30, 1984) is an Iranian-American professional wrestler better known by the ring name Shawn Daivari.

He is currently signed to WWE as a producer.

He is also known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where he is a former TNA X Division Champion and has also made appearances in Ring of Honor and Lucha Underground.

Daivari along with fellow wrestlers Ken Anderson, brother Ariya Daivari, Molly Holly, and Arik Cannon operate a wrestling school called The Academy: School of Professional Wrestling in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Daivari grew up admiring Mick Foley and Bret Hart.

His childhood hero was Shawn Michaels.

He participated in his first professional wrestling match at age 15.

He started his career in the upper midwest independent scene.

He is known for representing Iran for international title matches.

On October 19, 1998, Daivari appeared on Nitro as a fan being interviewed by Mike Tenay.

He appeared on the February 26, 2003, episode of Explosion and wrestled a tag team match against Mike Sanders and Glenn Gilberti with Ken Anderson.

He also appeared on the October 5, 2003, episode of Sunday Night Heat as Shawn Daivari, losing his match against Tommy Dreamer.

He also made four appearances for independent promotion Ring of Honor (ROH) between April and July 2004.

Daivari signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in August 2004 and debuted on the December 13 episode of Raw alongside Muhammad Hassan as Khosrow Daivari, later shortened to Daivari.

Their gimmick was that of two Arab Americans who were tired of the prejudice and stereotypes they were receiving after the 9/11 attacks.

Ironically, Daivari would scream instructions in Persian to Hassan when working as his manager.

In the weeks leading up to their debut, the two men would appear on Raw in vignettes promoting their hatred towards "America".

In the following weeks, they would back up their words with actions, initiating a feud with Raw announcers Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler.

At WrestleMania 21 on April 3, 2005, Daivari and Hassan were involved in an angle with Hulk Hogan.

While attacking injured wrestler Eugene, Hogan came to the ring and ejected both men from the ring.

The following night on Raw, Daivari and Hassan interrupted Shawn Michaels during a promo.

The two attacked Michaels and left him helpless in the ring.

This led to Daivari's first singles match in WWE, on the April 11, 2005, episode of Raw.

Although Michaels was heavily favored, Daivari, with help from Hassan, got the upset win.

Enraged, Michaels demanded a match against both Daivari and Hassan.

Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff refused to grant a handicap match, but instead ordered Michaels to find a partner.

That partner turned out to be Daivari and Hassan's WrestleMania foe Hulk Hogan.

On the April 18, 2005, episode of Raw, Michaels was once again double teamed by Daivari and Hassan until Hogan appeared to make the save.

Hogan accepted Michaels' offer to tag and the match was set for the Backlash pay-per-view on May 1, 2005.

At Backlash, Hogan and Michaels picked up the win which led to friction between the two since Hassan blamed Daivari for the loss.

The next night on Raw, Hassan verbally and physically attacked Daivari leaving their future as a team in question.

Both Daivari and Hassan were later drafted to SmackDown! on June 23, 2005, as part of a package deal.

On the July 7, 2005 episode of SmackDown!, then General Manager Theodore Long put Daivari in a match against The Undertaker for that night, and Muhammad Hassan in a match against The Undertaker at The Great American Bash.

Daivari was squashed easily in that match, after which Hassan began to pray on the ramp, summoning five masked men to the ring.

The masked men beat and strangled The Undertaker into submission, and Hassan put him in the camel clutch.

Afterward, the masked men carried Daivari off like a martyr.

The controversial imagery aired unedited in North America despite the terrorist attacks in London earlier that day, but was removed from the Australian and UK broadcasts.

This episode of SmackDown! was unusually taped on Monday and, at the time, aired on Thursday, so the skit was taped three days before the attack occurred.

In late July, UPN requested that WWE keep the Muhammad Hassan character off of their network.

WWE complied, effectively removing him from SmackDown! at The Great American Bash.