07/18/09 Resigned with TNA

Check out new digs on ebay. I have one of my turbans for sale as well as the camo gear that I started wearing in TNA. You can bid on these if you're so inclined at:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280379757117

Onto business matters, as it has been reported around the internet that I had signed with TNA they weren't 100% true. We were in a renegotiating process when that was reported. And I can be the first to tell you as of this week a new contract has been put into effect. So I will be a part of TNA at minimum for the next year, but maybe longer. I'm sure there are a bunch of important things to talk about, King of Pop dying, stock market jumping back on average 6 points etc., but I can't seem to find the will to write about any of that right now as my blogs are usually written when I'm passionate or heavily thinking about something. Right now my brain feels like it's going to melt and drip out my ear. So let me get to the gym, grab a bowl of Cookie Crisps, and maybe in the next day or two (most likely month or two) I'll try and get back on here and write something worth your time.

SD

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Many times I've heard guys like Steve Austin say something along the lines of "...if your not in the wrestling business to be world champion, or the top draw you should get out." And he's 100% correct. In today's day and age unfortunately for the industry there's to many people with the "just happy to be here" mentality. They're just happy to have a job, or just happy to collect a check in the given promotion they work for. Every single notion, movement, or idea you generate in pro-wrestling should be with the intention that it'll take you one step closer to being the top guy in the company you work for. If I was a promoter, that's what I would want. I wouldn't want to have to beg my talent to go out there and push themselves. I would want to be the promoter that's talent is busting there ass so hard I have to tell them to take it back a notch. With complacency comes a poor product for the viewing audience. If someone is just happy being an average guy, having an average match with no desire to do what it takes to step up and move forward, the only person(s) losing out are the ticket buying fans. And whether or not that person knows it, they have just made themselves replaceable. There is no shortcoming of average wrestlers. They are everywhere. In the indys, in TNA, in WWE, in Japan, anywhere there is pro-wrestling there are average guys. And as is the case when WCW and ECW went out of business, if your just an average guy who caught a break with a promoter, chances are when your time is up in that given promotion, finding more work elsewhere will be extremely difficult. From the 60+ wrestlers that worked for WCW in it's last couple years, only about 15 are still making money wrestling. And of the 30+ wrestlers that worked for ECW in it's last couple years, only about 7 are still making money wrestling. I firmly believe the rest of them that aren't making money now were "just happy to be here" and were not taking the actions needed to continue to step up and make it to the top.

When people ask me what is the highlight of my career, or proudest accomplishment in the business it's an easy answer for me because I don't have one. Everything I've done, or have done, or am doing, is to make it to the next level. There's never a ceiling for accomplishments. There is always more to do in pro-wrestling. If your a hot act, next step is to win a title. If your a champion, next step is to be in the main event. If you're in the main event, next step is to have your match draw the highest numbers. Too few people have that mentality. To do whatever it takes to move forward. And unfortunately I don't see a new up-and-coming star breaking box office records, and TV ratings, and PPV buys, unless more and more people take on this mentality. It took about 100+ guys crawling and scratching for years to get on top, before one Stone Cold Steve Austin broke through. With less then 3 guys I can see in every major wrestling promotion in the world crawling and scratching away to get on top, it's either gonna be some strange string of luck that the next Steve Austin breaks through, or it's just gonna take a really, really long time.

SD

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If there's one thing I don't understand it's the drunk, agitated wrestling fan who feels the need to get physical with pro-wrestlers. 99.99999% of the time it's an average sized male, who doesn't know a guy named Jim let alone ever been inside gym. And the kicker is he is fall down drunk. I mean plastered. Mind you if this guy was even a golden gloves boxer, or kick boxing champion, he still wouldn't be able to hold his own against a child cause they're so drunk. Now let's look even further into this and say he's not picking a fight with child. But a grown adult. Who works out for a living. Who competes in a ring (yes what we do is entertainment, but the basis of our entertainment is simulated combat, and you pick up a thing or two along the way), and is probably grumpy and agitated as shit from being on the road for the last five days. It would be smarter to pick a fight with a cop, cause they're just gonna subdue you. A wrestler who's been doing this for a while will stick his finger into your skull and gouge out your eye-ball. I've seen fan's attempt to get physical with guys 2x to 3x their size and it never goes well. I can even run you the steps of what happens. 1. Fan gets involved. 2. Wrestler retaliates and hurts the guy. 3. Arena security jump the guys shit and drag him out of the arena the hard way. 4. Police book him and promoter presses charges. I still don't understand why people do this. In the last 9 months I've had 3 altercations where people have gotten or tried to get physical with me. And if your wondering what happened, please see above. But my favorite would have to be the drunk lady that tried to punch me. I had no idea she went to waffle me. I had just taken a step past her and she took a swing and apparently just missed the back of my head. The reason I know this was because referee (and my personal secret service guard) Rudy Charles caught wind. The highspot is when security apprehended her to toss her out of the building...her boyfriend didn't want to go. He stayed and watched the show as his girlfriend was bounced out of the arena and booked at the local police station!

Check out the merchandise section for new autographed TNA 8x10 photos.

SD

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Is it cliche to start a blog saying how I'm sorry it's been so long since I've written one?

April is here and it is tax season. And the biggest crock of shit in my opinion if Federal Income Tax. What does Federal Income Tax cover? Is it schools and parks in my community? No, that's property tax. Is it the roads and freeways? No, that's tolls and gas tax. Is it the infrastructure of my local government? No, that's state income and sales tax. Why does the government collect a Federal Income Tax then? Because the Government was in debt (to privatized borrowers might I add), and collected monies from it's citizens to get out of the hole during the depression and two following World Wars. But something happened. Even though the 16th amendment found it unconstitutional to put new taxes in place, and the government did received a bail out from it's citizens, the Federal Income Tax still stood. Even to a point where in the 90's under Clinton's administration we had a balanced budget. All taxes claimed by the government are written as law on a state or federal level. The Federal Income Tax has yet to be produced written on paper as law. But like is the case with pirates and bandits, those with the guns have the powers. And the IRS has ruined many lives of people fighting to prove this cause. The IRS has unlimited resources to battle this cause, because their unlimited resources are collected by us every year come April. All federal income tax collected goes to pay of the annual INTEREST of the debt the United States Government owes the Federal Reserve System per year i.e. the minimum payment due on your credit card each month. And the Federal Reserve System no longer backs it's money bills by gold (since it was privatized 1913), they are now a certificate of debt. And when they see fit they pump more money bills into the system, decreasing the value of each note (and our nation's currency) but also increase our debt as that's what these money notes are now. A unit of increasing debt. As it states right on the money bills "This note is legal tender for all DEBTS, public and private."

SD

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Its now 4:19am in the morn and im on my second night of zero sleep. Mostly due to the fact that I get thinking, and get inside my own head so much that it keeps me preoccupied and prevents me from sleeping. Sometimes things that keep me from sleep are personal. Sometimes professional/creative/artistic. In our industry creativity and art is our profession so I listed those as such as I feel its all under the same umbrella. Im finding the last 2 days especially different as the personal and professional have melded into one another. I've been sleepless the past couple of days in Aruba on my honeymoon.

On valentines day I got married. For those of you that have seen The Wrestler it may be easy to understand this blog. This June will be 9 years from my first match, and ill have turned 25 years old approx. 30 days prior. My professional conflict lays with the fact of whether I may, or may not, become Randy the Ram. Usualy something like that wouldn't bother me so much to the point of sleeplessness. Usualy an artistic dilemma, or unfit creative outlet for my thoughts of wrestling are what bother me. But maybe perhaps due to my recent marriage I now feel responsible for my wifes wellbeing as well. Has my career peaked? Is it just getting started? Will there be terrible lows inbetween? All these things are posible with several case and point pro-wrestlers to back up, or dispute, any of the above.

You never know what the future holds and in an industry with no formula for gaurnteed success everything is a gamble. In basketball the best players are the most successful. In modeling the best looking are the most successful. In music the best singers are the most successful. Our industry has no formula. Some people hit, some people miss. Some people stay hot, and some don't. And the worst part is you never know what category you are in. Only what category you WERE in once you've moved on. I'd say the closest thing I've seen to a formula is that something a lot of top performers have in common is passion. Those with the passion to be a part of and perform in this industry SEEM to be the most successful. But that is not to say that I haven't seen tons of wrestlers bleeding with passion that can't catch a break. Or the fact that I've seen wrestlers make seven figures that don't give a shit about this buisness. Only time will tell what categories people fall into, or for my sake of sleep where I may fall. Time will tell if that last act of passion, that last Ram-Jam off the top rope lead to the beginning of round 2, or to the end of the dance. Good night.

SD

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Just got back from one of the longer tours of wrestling I've been a part of. I was on the road for approx 23 days and it was quite difficult considering how sick I was for about 75% of it. It's amazing to think that 20+ days use to be a standard travel schedule for pro-wrestlers as early as the 90s. Even then a top guy use to perform upwards of 30+ days in a row. And to factor in the inconvenience back then of not having cell phones, pagers, laptops, internet, GPS etc. I imagine it made for a very hard and lonely time on the road. Getting back home I was excited to see my package had arrived a comic book mini-series called Headlocked: The Tryout. The creator and a friend of mine Michael Kingston let me partake in a two comic story arch that let me guest star in the series. If you are at all a fan of comic books, and wrestling this is defiantly the end all be all of comics. I've only seen one or two other wrestling/comic book series and they missed the bulls-eye by a mile. If you are at all interested in taking a look at this series please visit www.midtowncomics.com   SD

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Unfortunately it's becoming a trend for me to start a blog by apologizing for how long it's been since I've last written one. At it would be very easy to say that I've been busy, which I have, but the design of a blog is it doesn't take much of a thought process, or research. It isn't a college dissertation. It's your thoughts fresh from your brain to your fingertips, to your PC to the world wide web. It seems like there has been a lot of talk lately about the use of drugs in wrestling thanks to Mr. Waxmans letter to congress. I don't mind someone being able to approach congress to see if an issue is able to be investigated. That's the purpose of this country. What bothers me is for the average person who isn't in the know of this industry, it paints a bad picture of pro-wrestling whilst leaving every other form of entertainment to be. Wrestling is part of the entertainment industry. Like music, movies, TV, sports, books etc. etc. etc. When ever someone like a Henry Waxman says there's a problem with drug use in wrestling (he thinks) a more fair statement would be there is drug use in the entertainment industry.

Whenever the media racks up these "huge" lists of people that have died in the wrestling industry over the last years, they never compare it to the number of deaths in music. The number of deaths in Hollywood. In that vein we are usually the smaller percentile, or at least in the same ball park.

Then also there is never the debate of use vs. abuse. There was an anti-inflamitory prescription medication on the market called Vioxx about 5 years ago. It was a very effective drug that in some cases had a side effect of causing heart failure. With tons of studies done, and the comparison of number of heart failures with use compared to the number of successfull trials, and the number of heart failure with abuse compared to the number of successfull trials, the FDA found it more often then not with use and abuse to cause to much damage to the human body to make it prescribeable and the drug was eliminated. I think people are uneducated as to what anabolic steroids are. Anabolic steroids are synthetic hormones. Birth control is a steroid. Some antidepressant drugs are steroids. More often then not, again in cases of USE and not ABUSE they have medical properties that are beneficial to the person prescribed the drug. That is why a doctor can not per scribe cocaine, or LSD. Because they have no proven medical value. If synthetic hormone causes the damage that Henry Waxman feels it does, his letter should ask congress to have synthetic hormones removed from the market by the FDA. He has his right to his opinion. If that is how he feels, then he should have his freedom to speak on the matter. But to go on a witch hunt against pro-wrestling is preposterous and probably won't go anywhere when both of the biggest wrestling companies in the USA have GOOD drug policies that hold up just as well as the NFL's drug policy and even the Olympics drug policy.

It seems like you cannot go a month without hearing a pro athlete, be it hockey, football, pro-wrestling, etc. going ahead and tearing a muscle clear of the bone/tendon while they're working. 95% of any orthopedic surgeons will prescribe Human Growth Hormone (a synthetic hormone i.e. a steroid) to co-inside with rehabilitation. Human Growth Hormone helps the body regenerate tissue. It creates more red blood cells. These are attributes with use that show it's medical value. Nandrolone-Deconate is another synthetic hormone that doctors like to prescribe after reattaching torn anatomy. It causes the body to go into a positive nitrogen balance which allows the body assimilate more protein, which every one knows, is the building blocks of repairing damaged tissue. So of these crazy percentages that Mr. Waxman likes to present to congress, does he take into consideration the number of "positive" wrestlers that have had reconstructive surgery in he last 3-18 months of testing? The number of legally in the USA, under the guidelines of the FDA, prescribed synthetic hormones BY MEDICAL DOCTORS? No. He doesn't. Because as I said earlier he is on a witch hunt. Am I saying that EVERYONE is innocent, and using drugs within the guidelines of doctor or FDA approval? No. We know that's typically not the case. But is there any way that I believe 70+ percent of the locker room is drug abusing addict? Also no.

If this witch hunt is to be pursued by congress, it would be in all fairness to take on the entire entertainment industry. To use some rhetoric to guilt congress into investigating the matter further that children are heavily influenced by these wrestling stars is bull-shit. Compare our demographics (18+ being key) to Lindsay Lohans sample audience. To Paris Hiltons sample audience. To Brittany Spears sample audience. And you'll see for the children that Mr. Waxman is searching for, they care a lot more about other entertainers with publicly admitted stints in rehab, and criminal prosecution for the use of drugs.

SD

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Again I'd like to apologize for the delay. I have been traveling and working a lot more then usual on my business outside of wrestling, my real estate investments. Now as I'm sure is no shock to anyone the current economic climate is awful for the average man, and a huge part of that is the "lending crash" of banks borrowing more money to people then they can afford to payback. Which is a reason for all the foreclosures in homes. This is why to make any money you have to re-a sign your client base from the average man, to the high income earning people in the US, who regardless of the lending crash can afford to spend money on real estate. This top 2-5% of the income earners in America are (typically) the ones that were hoping for John McCain to be voted into office, so they would be taxed a few points less per year on their federal tax return. I myself am in that tax bracket. But personally I'm glad to see a democrat in the white house and am willing to forfeit those couple points extra (really not that significant. i.e. if you make $1,000,000 paying out approx $380,000 in taxes vs. $350,000. When you make that kind of income $30k is usually insignificant. Prob 1/4 the cost of the car you drive). Those few points extra in taxes we're paying will help stimulate the US economy and bring our nation out of debt when combined with controlled spending from the government. None of the people in that bracket that will be spending the extra money in taxes will have their family's go hungry because if it. They will all still be able to drive cars bought in the last 5 years, and they will all still be able to grocery shop every week, and chances are they'll still be able to put that flat screen HDTV in their house they wanted too. But once the economy becomes more balanced, once overspending comes to halt, once proper amounts of money come back into the US, the other 95-97% of America will be able to more appropriately contribute to our nation. They won't be strapped for cash, they will be able to buy groceries every week. And once that percentage of America has appropriate funds, it means they'll be able to save appropriate amounts, which means some day they'll be able to invest in the stock market and help bring it back up, it means they'll be the client base that I'll be able to cater to in my real estate ventures, and once there's a larger client base, with appropriate funds/savings, there will only be more demand which means I will be able to sell/rent more. Which means those few points extra I'm paying by having a democrat in the office vs. a republican, will be completely negligible because my income will greatly increase with more transactions to more Americans. And it's win win for the economy because that's just another American who will be so happy to OWN their own home for their family, and also pumping money into US economy by paying me (which I pay capital gains tax on) and them paying to their community via property tax. I'm very excited to see our nation become the strongest financial leader in the world again. It will only lead to better things for not just this country, but for the PEOPLE living in it.

SD

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Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been on the road a lot more then usual this past month, and on top of it Huricane Ike tap danced all over my house. I was without electricity for two weeks, my backyard got F'd up, and my floors had moisture dammage. But more then anything the life without elctricity was difficult. Other then bitching for the sake of bitching in all honesty it wasn't bad at all and nothing more then an inconvenience. I saw a lot of dammage done to a lot of people and really can now for the first time understand the severity of natural disasters. My life felt like it was turned upside down with these little issues. I can't imagne people who had their homes flooded, walls blown in, roofs torn off, lost loved ones, pets, property. It's horible to imagine these things happen to undeserving people all the time. I don't have much else to really talk about other then that. You'd think to go weeks without blogging I'd have shit to say...but i digress.

SD

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It's hard to talk about or in this scenario type about, because it's almost become a taboo subject. I was looking on YouTube for various wrestling matches. Usually you can find one that fits your fancy and just follow the related videos that stem from it and occupy quite a bit of time if you're stuck at the airport or something. I came across a video interview with Chris Benoit shortly after he won the world title at WrestleMania 20. He said in the interview how he tries to make himself a more accessable person to others then other champions were to him. That statement is what influenced me to write this blog because sadly, again because it seems like inappropriate or taboo subject, I don't give enough credit to Chris Benoit for what he he instilled in me as far as wrestling and life are concerned. And unfortunately no matter how much anyone else sings his praises as well, the decisions he made in his last days with us will not allow anyone to remember much else of him, and that falls back on him. I look at in a similar (but still vastly different for obvious reasons) as Bill Clinton's term as president. He did a lot of very good things, but unfortunately he will only be remembered for his sex scandal. But Chris was a guy who always took the time of day with me, and even went out of his way to see what decisions I was making in wrestling. Who was taking advice from? Who's opinion didn't I value? What were my thoughts on certain matches? What were my thoughts on certain booking decisions? Who was I traveling with? These are all things he would inquire me about, and after I'd give him my answer he would let me know why he was asking, then offer his two cents on the subject. And this even went past wrestling. A lot of times, usually away from the arenas be it driving, at dinner, at a bar, in a gym, he would touch on the same subjects of life. How was my time at home? How were my dogs doing? Have I seen my parents lately? How's my girlfriend doing? Then again after my answer he'd follow up with insight into his life. Always positive. Always spoke the world of his kids, dogs, and wife. It's hard to keep on point with this blog as everything I type I feel like I'm second guessing. It's terrible that Chris made the decision that he did. It breaks my heart that for the rest of my life I'll never be able to have a complete thought on the matter. And being a colleague that use to look up to the guy with the utmost respect, it breaks my heart that so many other people directly involved have to live with this tragedy. I know how much it has effected me, so I can't imagine how much more it most have effected them. The only thing I can say is that I know what I learned in life, and in my career from Chris are invaluable, and I don't think there will ever be a caliber of performer that will show the same interest in me, and sharing that knowledge. Who knows how many other people were influenced as much as I was, and who knows if I was one of the few. Unfortunately though like I said earlier, it doesn't matter and soon the source will be forgotten by those who I and maybe those others share it with. As this perhaps one of the only scenarios where the first impression isn't the one that will be remembered, but sadly, for everyone, it'll be the last.

-SD

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Need something to write about but nothing comes to mind. So I guess I'll answer a questions that other wrestlers ask to me all the time at independent wrestling shows around the country. Their Q always is "what do I need to do to take the next step." Sadly the most important thing is timing. Anyone with any success will always start their story with "...I was in the right place, at the right time." That gives you opportunity then it's your own preparation that makes the most of the opportunity to take the next step. What that preparation is varies depending on who you are or where you want to take that next step. A solid basis of wrestling is never a bad thing. If you can wrestle, you'll have a job for life. Maybe not on top, maybe not making tons of money, but if you can wrestle you can always find work. But in order to stand out you have to have "it" and finding out what "it" is is almost impossible. If people knew how to teach "it" everyone would be a huge success. There's no way to teach "it", but when you find "it", anyone who knows their shit will notice. In the US, "it" is more important that wrestling ability. There are a lot of guys that had little wrestling ability that made it to the top on "it" in the US. And there are also tons of guys who had tremendous wrestling ability but didn't make it anywhere because they lacked "it". The closest I can get to what "it" is, would be what makes you different from the guy next to you if you both had the same ability of wrestling. "It" can be a hair cut, can be an interview, can be tights, can be a look, can be a size, can be an intensity etc. etc. It's like the X-men. The X is the variable in their DNA that gives them that extra-ordinary ability. What it is effects everyone differently, and the ability (i.e. "it") separates them from the rest. I don't think any of that made any sense, but if you get it my work here is done.

Later,

-SD

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I wasn't to happy with the way this web site was laid out, as it seemed more or less just a pamphlet of information about Shawn Daivari. The hope is that a web site can be more interactive and at least worth wrestling fans continuing to return to the site in anticipation of new updates. So with that in mind here is my first entry and I hope to update it on a semi-regular fashion.

So the latest with me is signing a contract with TNA Wrestling. I hope to make the most out of it, and it seems that TNA is going to give me an opportunity to perform on the level I always felt I could. Another interesting thing is my new name. In TNA Wrestling I will be known as Sheik Abdul Bashir. Daivari is actually my last name so neither WWE, TNA or anyone for that matter can trademark, or copyright it. I understand the business decision behind it because more or less when you are a contracted talent to a company you are their investment. And the hope is that if they invest in you (TV time, appearances, promotions) that at some point they can cash out and use you in a highly grossing financial situation. If unfortunately you leave the promotion before they have the chance to "cash out" being able to work else where with the same name, obviously same look, that investment is a loss. But alas I have seen one of the most successful tag teams in wrestling, The Dudley Boyz, continue being one of the most successful tag teams in wrestling as Team 3D. What's in a name?

Second thing I wanted to touch base on is a promo I did on TNA iMPACT! on 08/14/08. Some people told me after the segment that they thought the use of the term "rape" maybe might not be appropriate for the world of wrestling. I agree DEPENDING on it's context. In the context I used the term Lady America was "who" I was raping. This isn't meant to be a literal or even physical action. But it's meant to be an analogy for Sheik Abdul Bashir coming to the USA and forcefully taking something that wasn't meant for him. If it was used in the context of forcing sex onto someone it would be distasteful, I'm 100% sure TNA wouldn't allow it, and I myself wouldn't say/do it. But since I have seen the promo back, I think it was executed just fine that in the context of it's delivery it was more then clearly defined that the verb "rape" was used in a figurative form, instead of a literal form.

Check out the merchandise section for new Shawn Daivari "Radical Muslim" T-shirt!

Later

-SD