Early career (1999–2004) 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. 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 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 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. 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 the
SmackDown! brand on the June 23 episode of
SmackDown! as part of a package deal. On the July 7 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 on July 24 in which the winner would be the number one contender to the
World Heavyweight Championship. 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. After Hassan lost in a match with The Undertaker, Hassan was given the
Last Ride through an open stage ramp onto a concrete floor.
Mr. McMahon rescinded that at the
kangaroo court trial of
Eric Bischoff on the December 5 episode of
Raw. Daivari remained aligned with Kurt Angle as his manager. On the January 13, 2006, episode of
SmackDown!, Angle and Daivari moved to the SmackDown! brand, where Angle won the World Heavyweight Championship in a battle royal that same night. Angle later revealed that his contract on
Raw had expired, which allowed them to switch brands. Angle was already signed to face Shawn Michaels on the January 16 episode of
Raw, however this non-title match went ahead, but Daivari would accidentally cost Angle the match against Michaels. Afterwards, Daivari and Angle argued, but when Daivari
slapped Angle, he was
Angle Slammed over the ropes and down to the floor on the outside of the ring. During the break, on WWE.com
Unlimited, an enraged Angle made it known that Daivari's services were no longer needed. A short time later, Daivari faced his former client in a match, during which
Mark Henry, the number one contender for Angle's title, attacked Angle. After the match, Daivari officially announced that he was now managing Henry and continued to manage Henry during his
feud with The Undertaker. Daivari would not be seen on television in the weeks leading up to
WrestleMania 22 on April 2 when, at ''
Saturday Night's Main Event XXXII, he suffered a chokeslam and Tombstone Piledriver'' at the hands of The Undertaker onto the lid of a
casket. in 2006. On the April 7 episode of
SmackDown!, Daivari made his return bringing in the debuting
The Great Khali to attack The Undertaker during his match with Mark Henry. The next week, Daivari officially presented him to the crowd, hyping him as an "unstoppable monster". Over the following weeks, Daivari would accompany Khali to the ring as he attacked various
SmackDown! superstars. This would all lead up to a match with The Undertaker at
Judgment Day on May 21, which Khali would end up winning. Daivari and Khali appeared as guests on ''Piper's Pit
on the June 2 episode of SmackDown!'', in which
Roddy Piper made fun of Khali, who supposedly could not speak English. Eventually Piper stood on the bottom rope, attempting to match height with Khali, he managed to say: "If this was twenty years ago", before Khali grabbed him by the throat. Daivari made Khali put Piper down and straightened Piper's jacket disrespectfully, at which Piper slapped Daivari, but was then given a chop by Khali. The Undertaker was the original guest on the Pit, but he declined the invitation a few days before. Daivari continued to accompany The Great Khali to the ring when Khali wrestled or attacked other wrestlers, but when The Great Khali became inactive due to injury, Daivari was taken off the road as well. Daivari and The Great Khali were moved to the
ECW brand officially when they made their ECW debuts on the October 31 episode of
ECW, in which Daivari defeated "The Reject"
Shannon Moore. Daivari's original
theme music was used as well as his Persian rants on the microphone. Afterwards, Moore was manhandled by The Great Khali. Dreamer then chased Daivari all the way to the back, but The Great Khali appeared and caught Dreamer, planting him on the steel ramp with a chokebomb. On the January 8, 2007 episode of
Raw, The Great Khali moved to the Raw brand without Daivari. The following night, however, Daivari accompanied Khali to the ring for his match against Dreamer on
ECW. Daivari returned to the SmackDown! brand on the February 9 episode of
SmackDown!, defeating then
Cruiserweight Champion Gregory Helms in a non-title match. He wrestled in a
Cruiserweight Open for the
WWE Cruiserweight Championship at
No Way Out on February 18, won by
Chavo Guerrero. He began wrestling in the
Cruiserweight division. He was involved in a feud between
Kane and The Great Khali, once again promoting Khali in March. His first match against Kane involved him being dragged backstage by Kane's chain and hook leaving his back with multiple bruises. A few weeks later, Daivari had a rematch with Kane and was again defeated.
Singles competition (2007) Daivari returned to
SmackDown! a few months later, teaming up with
Chavo Guerrero Jr. and
Jamie Noble against
Jimmy Wang Yang,
Paul London and Brian Kendrick in a losing effort. On the June 15 episode of
SmackDown!, Daivari competed in a
fatal four-way number one contender match for the Cruiserweight Championship, which he lost to Yang and also involved Shannon Moore and Noble. Daivari was drafted back to the Raw brand in the
supplemental draft on June 17, 2007. He re-debuted on the June 18 episode of
Raw, losing to
Jeff Hardy. On the July 30 episode of
Raw, Daivari was defeated by
Cody Rhodes who had to win his match or else being fired from WWE. Daivari's losing streak continued when he failed to win the position of General Manager of
Raw by been eliminated early in the
battle royal the week after Rhodes defeated him. Daivari then started to get on a roll on
Heat (
Raw's sister show) being victorious against
Super Crazy and
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. His return on the September 17 episode of
Raw saw him lose to Duggan in a
flag match. On October 16, Daivari was released from his WWE contract.
Sporadic appearances and producer role (2011, 2018–2020, 2021–present) On May 3, 2011, Daivari made his WWE return by competing in a dark match before the
SmackDown tapings, losing to
Ted DiBiase. In 2018, Daivari made his second return to WWE during a segment at
Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia where he and his brother,
Ariya Daivari, were driven out of the ring by four new Saudi recruits. He was later hired by WWE as a producer in January 2019, and was eventually released on April 15, 2020, as part of budget cuts stemming from the
COVID-19 pandemic. He returned on June 11, 2021.
Independent circuit (2007–2008) belt Daivari made his debut for Professional Championship Wrestling in
Arlington, Texas, at PCW's
Heroes 2 Legends event in November 2007. He wrestled J.T. Lamotta and "Jiggle-O" James Johnson in a triple threat match for the PCW Cruiserweight Championship, which Lamotta won. He returned to PCW on February 23, 2008, at PCW's ''Big Bang '08'' event to again wrestle a triple threat match for the PCW Cruiserweight Championship, this time against
Robert Evans and Aaron Eagle, who won and became the new champion. On September 6, 2008, it was announced by The Bussey Brothers that Daivari would return on September 20, 2008, to team with them to take on Aaron Eagle and a partner of his choosing. Eagle had chosen Action Jackson to be his tag team partner. However, Jackson was injured at the hands of Mace Malone. PCW World Heavyweight Champion, Mike Foxx, who was supposedly suspended and also Eagle's main rival, surprisingly saved Eagle from an attack and announced he would be Eagle's partner. The stipulation was that if Eagle did not win, he could never get another PCW World Heavyweight Championship shot again. On September 20, Daivari and The Busseys defeated Eagle and Foxx when Foxx
turned on Eagle and Daivari debuted his new
finisher move, the
WMD –
Weapon of Mass Destruction (a
DDT to a kneeling opponent), for the victory. Afterwards, Foxx announced he would give Eagle one final title shot at ''Sick 'n' Twisted'' on October 11. On April 4, 2008, Daivari made his AMW debut in a triple threat match against Wally Darkmon and Robert Evans for the AMW Light Heavyweight Championship. Daivari won the match to become the new AMW Light Heavyweight Champion. During most of 2008, he feuded with Wally Darkmon and on September 12, 2008, he lost the AMW Light Heavyweight Championship to Darkmon in a
casket match. In June 2008, Davari took part in an
Irish Whip Wrestling (IWW) event in the
ESB Arena of
Dublin,
Ireland, where he lost in the
main event to Mandrake for the IWW International Heavyweight Championship.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2008–2009) Daivari debuted in
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on the June 12, 2008, episode of
Impact! as the captain to Team International in 2008's
World X Cup Tournament. Daivari then signed a contract with TNA. On the July 24 episode of
Impact!, after the conclusion of the X Cup, it was announced that he had joined the TNA roster under the name of
Sheik Abdul Bashir. Retaining his anti-American gimmick and also adding a bullying mean streak, he quickly established himself as a
heel after helping
Petey Williams retain the
TNA X Division Championship over
Consequences Creed at
Hard Justice on August 10, as well as delivering promos to draw
heat. His official debut match on
Impact! was a victory over
Jay Lethal. Bashir won the X Division Championship at
No Surrender on September 14, by defeating Williams and Creed in a three-way match. At
Bound for Glory IV on October 12, Bashir defeated Creed in another match for the X Division Championship. On the October 23 live episode of
Impact!, Bashir successfully defended the X Division Championship against
Jay Lethal. After the match, he attacked
Rhino after being confronted by him over his political views. in Dublin, Ireland in January 2009 On October 30, it was announced that Daivari was taken to "
wrestler court" at the week's
Impact! tapings following a
rib he played on
Kip James during a flight they shared. Daivari pulled aside a flight attendant, who then announced over the loudspeaker that Kip was celebrating his 65th birthday. He was taken to wrestler court because it was determined that he hadn't spent enough time in the company to pull a rib on a veteran.
Brother Ray served as the
judge while
B.G. James represented Kip and
Brother Devon represented Daivari, and agent
Pat Kenney served as the
bailiff for the proceedings. Daivari was found guilty and was required to supply the locker room beer and booze, which he did on Tuesday night after the tapings. On the November 13 episode of
Impact!, Bashir lost the X Division Championship to
Eric Young. During the match, Bashir shoved TNA Official
Shane Sewell to the mat after Sewell questioned Bashir and the TNA audience of Bashir's actions during the match. Sewell became enraged, removed his shirt and attacked Bashir, which led Eric Young to hit his
Death Valley driver on Bashir and
pinning him for the win and the championship. However, Bashir was awarded the championship back the following week due to Sewell's interference, thus continuing his original title reign and making Young's title reign null and void. Sewell helped Young to defeat Bashir for the title for the second time at
Final Resolution on December 7, ending Bashir's reign at 84 days. After the match, Bashir bloodied Sewell and tried to leave with the championship belt, but was stopped by
Jim Cornette who announced that he had decided to
vacate the championship. At
Genesis on January 11, 2009, Sewell defeated Bashir in a grudge match that ended their feud. In July, Bashir formed an alliance with Eric Young,
Kiyoshi and
The British Invasion (
Doug Williams,
Brutus Magnus and
Rob Terry) known as
World Elite. They were also later joined by
Homicide. At
Final Resolution on December 20, Bashir took part in the "
Feast or Fired" match and was able to pick up one of the four briefcases. However, the briefcase he had picked up included a pink slip, which led to him being immediately fired from the company. Daivari would later say he originally signed a two-year extension with the understanding that
Jeff Jarrett would be his boss, but after Jarrett stepped down a month later, he could not see eye to eye with the new management and asked for his release.
Return to ROH (2010–2011) Daivari made his return to ROH on February 5, 2010, at the tapings of
Ring of Honor Wrestling on
HDNet, once again portraying an anti-American heel. At the March 6 tapings, he joined
Prince Nana's
stable The Embassy. On June 19, 2010, at
Death Before Dishonor VIII, he participated in a
gauntlet match for
Roderick Strong's
ROH World Championship. On September 11, 2010, at
Glory By Honor IX, Daivari unsuccessfully challenged
Eddie Edwards for the
ROH World Television Championship.
Lucha Underground (2015) On April 15, 2015, Daivari made his debut at
Lucha Underground as
DelAvar Daivari, a wrestler from a wealthy family, being seen sitting in attendance during the night within the audience. On the April 22, 2015, episode, Daivari attacked
El Texano Jr. after Texano pushed him, which cost Texano's team the
Lucha Underground Trios Championship match. On May 13, 2015, Daivari made his in-ring debut against Texano, which Daivari won by disqualification after Texano attacked the referee. On May 20, 2015, Daivari hired
Big Ryck as his bodyguard, both of them attacking Texano as well as Bengala. Due to the alliance not paying off for Daivari, he attacked Ryck with a steel folding chair during a seven-way match at
Ultima Lucha. Daivari didn't appear in Season 2. However, he wrestled
Paul London in a
dark match at
Ultima Lucha Dos in which he was defeated.
Return to the independent circuit (2010–2018) Daivari made his debut in
Juggalo Championship Wrestling (JCW) in
At Oddball Wrestling on August 14, 2010, where The Daivari Brothers (Shawn and his sibling
Arya), lost to
The Ring Rydas. On November 10, 2010, in the first event of the tour, he defeated Dunkan Disorderly in
Bordeaux,
France, to win the AWR No Limits Championship. Daivari made his American Wrestling Rampage debut on AWR's seven-night
Twisted Steel Tour. On May 8, 2011, at Pro Wrestling Syndicate
Vendetta event, Daivari won the vacant PWS New York State Championship. Several days later at Canadian Wrestling's Elite, he and Ariya Daivari went to the finals CWE Tag Team Championship Tournament, but lost to Danny Duggan and
Kenny Omega. In June 2011, Daivari, working under the ring name
Dubai, was announced as one of the four team captains for the pilot tapings of
All Wheels Wrestling. At the pilot tapings on June 29, Dubai was first defeated by RPM (Jay Lethal) in a five-minute
Iron Man match and then by Schwagg Dutt (
Sonjay Dutt) in an
Ultimate X match, which also included
Aaron Aguilera and RPM. In December 2011, Daivari took part in TNA's
India project,
Ring Ka King, where he resumed the Abdul Bashir gimmick and formed The Sheiks with his brother Arya, who worked as Mustafa Bashir. On May 12, 2012, Daivari won the Big Time Wrestling Cruiserweight Championship. In October, he and Sonjay Dutt wrestled for
Family Wrestling Entertainment (FWE) challenging the Adrenaline Express for the
FWE Tag Team Championship. On October 6, Daivari defeated
Crowbar in the
House of Hardcore's (HOH) first show. On a telecast of
Portland Wrestling Uncut which aired on November 3, 2012, on
Portland, Oregon, station
KPTV, Daivari lost via pinfall to local star Exile, though the outcome was disputed because Daivari pointed out that he had his foot on the bottom rope when he was pinned. As of 2018, he has only made a few appearances on the independent circuit, most notably for Insane Championship Wrestling and
The Brian Kendrick's promotion Wrestling Pro Wrestling (WPW).
Return to Impact Wrestling (2020–2021) On October 24, 2020, at
Bound for Glory, he made an unannounced appearance as a participant in the
Call Your Shot gauntlet match under the ring name
Daivari, which he failed to win as he was eliminated by
Brian Myers. At
Turning Point, Daivari lost to
Eddie Edwards. Daivari made his return at
Genesis as a competitor in the fourth
Super X Cup tournament, where he lost in the first round to
Jake Something.
Major League Wrestling (2021) In January 2021,
Major League Wrestling announced Daivari as the new member of
Contra Unit. == Personal life ==