Ariya Daivari ( fa, آریا داوری; born April 11, 1989) is an

Iranian-American Iranian Americans are United States citizens or nationals who are of Iranian ancestry or who hold Iranian citizenship. Iranian Americans are among the most highly educated people in the United States. They have historically excelled in busine ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

currently signed to

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. It is considered the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind WWE. AEW is owned by Shahid Khan and his son Tony, w ...

(AEW) under the ring name Ari Daivari. He is best known for his time in

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011, when the promotion was so ...

(ROH),

New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

(NJPW), the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

(NWA), and has made brief appearances for

Global Force Wrestling Global Force Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2014 by Jeff Jarrett, the co-founder and former President of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now known as Impact Wrestling), and his wife Karen Jarrett. It is ow ...

and

Impact Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...

's project

Ring Ka King Ring Ka King (English: King of the Ring) was an Indian professional wrestling brand of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA, now known as Impact Wrestling). Filming for the promotion's television product began in December 2011 with the backing o ...

Professional wrestling career

Independent circuit (2006–2017)

After building a background in

Tae Kwon Do ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

and

amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced in collegiate, school, or other amateur level competitions. There are two international wrestling styles performed in the Olympic Games: freestyle and Greco-Roman. Both styles are under the ...

during his high school years, Ariya was trained in professional wrestling by his brother

Shawn Daivari Dara Shawn Daivari ( fa, دارا داوری) (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 Nons ...

and fellow wrestler

Arik Cannon Arik Cannon (born December 23, 1981) is an American professional wrestler known for competing in companies such as Chikara, Dragon Gate USA, IWA Mid-South, All American Wrestling and Wrestling Society X. He also runs the Minneapolis-based wrest ...

. He also trained with

Shelton Benjamin Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under his real name. He is also known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wres ...

and former

wrestler Ken Anderson. Ariya debuted in a Midwest Pro Wrestling Academy event on September 26, 2006, at the First Avenue nightclub. Before his 2016

debut, Ariya performed for various U.S. wrestling promotions, including

, and

's India project,

WWE (2016–2021, 2022)

Cruiserweight division (2016–2021)

Daivari's first experience with WWE was wrestling in a non-televised match for

WWE SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that as of currently airs live every Friday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Fox Deportes simulc ...

at the

Target Center Target Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Minneapolis that opened in 1990. It hosts major family shows, concerts, sporting events, graduations and private events. Target Corporation, founded and headquartered in Minneapolis since 1902, ...

in 2013. The following year he participated in a tryout at the WWE Performance Center. On June 13, 2016, Daivari was announced as a competitor in the

WWE Cruiserweight Classic The Cruiserweight Classic, formerly the Global Cruiserweight Series, was a professional wrestling tournament and WWE Network event produced by WWE. All participants were billed at a weight of 205 lbs or less to determine the inaugural WWE Cruiserw ...

. On June 23, 2016, Daivari was eliminated from the tournament in his first round match by

Ho Ho Lun Wong Yuk Lun (born July 19, 1987), better known by his ring name Ho Ho Lun (Hoholun, 何顥麟), is a Hong Kong professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with WWE, where he competed in their Cruiserweight Classic tournament and in their ...

. On the October 10, 2016 episode of ''

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

'', Daivari made his main roster debut as part of the cruiserweight division on ''Raw'' as a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

, losing by submission to the Cruiserweight Champion

T. J. Perkins Theodore James Perkins (born September 3, 1984) is an American professional wrestler of Filipino descent, better known by the ring name T. J. Perkins (or simply TJP) currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling where he is a member of the Unite ...

. On the

Hell in a Cell Hell in a Cell is a professional wrestling steel cage-based match which originated in 1997 in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It features a large cell structure, a five-sided cuboid made from open-weave steel mesh chain-link fenci ...

pre-show, Daivari teamed with

Tony Nese Anthony Nese (born August 6, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he is a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion. Professional wrestling career Indep ...

and

Drew Gulak Drew Gulak (born April 28, 1987) is an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand. He is a former one-time WWE Cruiserweight Champion and an eight-time ...

in a losing effort to

Cedric Alexander Cedric Alexander Johnson (born August 16, 1989) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Alexander worked for Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2010 until 2016. He started as part of C&C Factory, a ...

Lince Dorado José Cordero (born May 11, 1987) is an American professional wrestler of Puerto Rican descent currently signed to Major League Wrestling, where he competes under the ring name Lince Dorado (Spanish for Golden Lynx), and is the current MLW Midd ...

and

Sin Cara In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

. On the

Survivor Series Survivor Series is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving, it is the sec ...

pre-show, Daivari, Nese and Gulak were defeated by TJ Perkins,

Rich Swann Richard Allen Swann (born February 15, 1991) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling. He is a former Impact World Champion, TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Impact X Division Champion and Impact Digital Media Cham ...

and

Noam Dar Noam Dar (; born 28 July 1993) is an Israeli-Scottish professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, and is a record setting two-time NXT UK Heritage Cup Champion. He also wrestles for Scottish promotion Insane Championship Wrestling (ICW ...

. He then started a feud with

Gentleman Jack Gallagher Oliver Westfield Claffey, better known by the ring name Jack Gallagher, is an English professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed on the NXT and 205 Live brands, mostly under the ring ...

, which ended in an "I Forfeit" match, which he lost. Daivari began his championship pursuits for the Cruiserweight Championship in July 2017.

Akira Tozawa Akira Tozawa (戸澤陽, ''Tozawa Akira'', born July 22, 1985) is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is a former WWE Cruiserweight Champion and WWE 24/7 Champion, winning the ...

called Daivari out on the July 24 episode of ''Raw'' for a rematch after

Titus O'Neil Thaddeus Michael Bullard Sr. (born April 29, 1977) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former arena football player. He is the Global Ambassador of WWE and also performs for the promotion as a wrestler under the ri ...

forfeited their singles match the week prior on Tozawa's behalf. While Neville showed up to confront Tozawa, Daivari then appeared to attack both Tozawa and Neville. He faced off against Neville the next night on ''205 Live'', winning via count-out. When

Enzo Amore Eric Arndt (born December 8, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. In WWE, he came to prominence for his partnership with Big Cass, whom he teamed with from 2013 to 2017. Together, they won the NXT Year-End Award for Tag Team of the Year ...

became the Cruiserweight Champion, Daivari appeared to support Amore on ''205 Live'' and became a member of Amore's heel faction "The Zo Train", along with

, and

. On January 23, 2018, Enzo Amore was fired from WWE after allegations of sexual assault were made public, thus forcing Amore to vacate the Cruiserweight Championship and quietly disbanding "The Zo Train". Following this, Daivari participated in a

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

to crown a new Cruiserweight Champion but lost in the first round to the debuting

Buddy Murphy Matthew Adams (born 26 September 1988) is an Australian professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Buddy Matthews as a member of the stable House of Black. He is best known for his time with WWE w ...

on the February 6, 2018 episode of ''205 Live''. In

WWE Greatest Royal Rumble WWE Greatest Royal Rumble was a professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on April 27, 2018, at ...

, Ariya teamed up with his brother

and insulted four Saudi Arabian prospects before being driven out by

Mansoor Mansour ( ar, منصور, Manṣūr); also spelled Mounsor, Monsur (Bengali), Mansoor, Manser, Mansur, Mansyur (Indonesian) or Mensur (Turkish), is a male Arabic name that means "He who is victorious", from the Arabic root '' naṣr'' (نصر), m ...

. After an extended break from action to recover from an unspecified injury, Daivari returned on the November 28 episode of ''205 Live'', joining

Hideo Itami is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he performs under the mononymous ring name Kenta (stylised in all capital letters), and is a member of the Bullet Club stable. He also makes occasional appeara ...

in an attack on a local competitor. After that, he began accompanying Itami to the ring for his matches and interfering on his behalf. On January 29 episode of ''205 Live'' Daivari turned on Itami after the latter lost to Akira Tozawa, the same day that Itami requested his release from WWE. On the March 23 episode of ''205 Live'', Daivari defeated Cedric Alexander, following a distraction from

Oney Lorcan Christopher Girard (born December 21, 1985) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE as a coach at their Performance Center. Previously he performed on the NXT brand under the ring name Oney Lorcan. He is a former NXT Tag Te ...

. On the April 23 episode of ''205 Live'', Daivari defeated Lorcan to become the number one contender for the Cruiserweight Championship. However at Money in the Bank, he failed to capture the title from

. Shortly after he would feud with

which lead to an

Anything Goes match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

where he was defeated to end their feud. In October 2019 he would begin a feud with

Isaiah "Swerve" Scott Stephon Strickland (born September 30, 1990) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he performs under the ring name Swerve Strickland and is a former AEW World Tag Team Champion (with Keith Lee). ...

but never defeated him. Around this time he would start wearing white pants and a Gucci belt to the ring. In 2020 he took a long hiatus from the ring and returned in August 2020 upset that new cruiserweights weren't respecting him. He would then form an alliance with

calling themselves the "205 Live OG's" and throughout the first few months of 2021, they would mostly be defeated by the likes of newcomers Curt Stallion and August Grey. On June 25, 2021, Daivari was released from his WWE contract.

Producer (2022)

In April 2022, Daivari was rehired by

as a producer. He was released 3 months later.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2021–present)

On September 28, 2021, it was announced that Daivari would be debuting for New Japan Pro Wrestling for their New Japan Showdown shows facing

Alex Zayne Alex Zayne is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with WWE where he wrestled on the NXT and WWE 205 Live brands under the ring name Ari Sterling. He has also appeared on Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, NJPW Strong ...

on Night 1 and teaming with

Lio Rush Lionel Gerard Green (born November 11, 1994), better known by the ring name Lio Rush, is an American professional wrestler and musician currently signed to New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of the Chaos stable. He has also ap ...

against

El Phantasmo Riley Vigier (born October 24, 1986), otherwise known as El Phantasmo (ELP), is a Canadian professional wrestler currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is currently performing in the Junior Heavyweight division as part of Bu ...

and

Chris Bey Chris Bey (born February 13, 1996) is an American professional wrestler currently signed with Impact Wrestling, where he is a former one-time X Division Champion. He is also known for his work on the independent scene. He has also made appearanc ...

on Night 2. He would make his return on June 18, 2022, at

NJPW Strong ''NJPW Strong'' is a professional wrestling television series produced by Japanese professional wrestling promotion New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) which debuted on August 7, 2020. It currently airs Saturday at 8pm ET on NJPW World and FITE TV. H ...

, scoring a victory over

Delirious Delirious may refer to: * A state of delirium Film and television * Delirious (1991 film), ''Delirious'' (1991 film), an American comedy directed by Tom Mankiewicz, starring John Candy * Delirious (2006 film), ''Delirious'' (2006 film), an Americ ...

All Elite Wrestling (2021–present)

On November 12, 2021, Daivari made his All Elite Wrestling debut on

AEW Rampage ''AEW Rampage'', also known as ''Friday Night Rampage'' or simply ''Rampage'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). It airs every Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern Time ( ...

losing to Dante Martin. On the June 28, 2022 episode of

AEW Dark AEW or aew may refer to: * Airborne early warning, airborne radar system for detecting aircraft * Aerosvit Airlines, an airline based in Kyiv, Ukraine (ICAO airline designator: AEW) * AEW Capital Management, a property investment management company ...

, he would make his return for the brand, defeating

Caleb Konley Mason Burnett (born August 30, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in Impact Wrestling where he competed under the ring name Kaleb with a K, or simply, Kaleb Konley. He is best known under the ring name Caleb Kon ...

National Wrestling Alliance (2022–present)

On April 16, 2022, Daivari made his debut for the

, facing

Nick Aldis Nicholas Aldis (born 6 November 1986) is an English professional wrestler best known for his time in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). He is also known for his time in Impact Wrestling under the ring name Magnus. Aldis made his debut on t ...

in a losing effort.

Personal life

Daivari attended

Wayzata High School Wayzata High School is a comprehensive public high school in Plymouth, Minnesota, United States, a suburb of Minneapolis. The high school, operated by Wayzata Public Schools, had about 3669 students in grades 9 to 12 as of 2021-22, making it Min ...

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. He is

and sometimes incorporates spoken

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

in his performances. His brother,

Dara Dara is a given name used for both males and females, with more than one origin. Dara is found in the Bible's Old Testament Books of Chronicles. Dara �רעwas a descendant of Judah (son of Jacob). (The Bible. 1 Chronicles 2:6). Dara (also known ...

, is also a professional wrestler, mostly known for his time in WWE under the names Khosrow Daivari and Daivari (shortened from his previous in ring name).

Other media

Ariya Daivari made his

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

debut as a playable character in ''

WWE 2K19 ''WWE 2K19'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by 2K Sports. It was released worldwide on October 9, 2018, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the twentieth overall game in the ''WWE' ...

''. He would also appear in

WWE 2K20 ''WWE 2K20'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It was released worldwide on October 22, 2019, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the twenty-first installment of ...

. He would make a reappearance in

WWE 2K22 ''WWE 2K22'' is a 2022 professional wrestling sports video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It is the twenty-second overall installment of the video game series based on WWE, the ninth game under the ''WWE 2K'' banne ...

Championships and accomplishments

*American Wrestling Association **AWA Rush YouTube Championship (1 time) *American Wrestling Federation **AWF Elite Championship (1 time) **AWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *Born Championship Wrestling **BCW Tag Team Championships (1 time) – with Judd Jennrich *F1RST Wrestling **F1RST Wrestlepalooza Championship (2 times, current) *French Lake Wrestling Association **FLWA VFW Championship (1 time) *Heavy on Wrestling **HOW Undisputed Championship (1 time) *Insane Championship Wrestling (Milwaukee) **ICW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with

*National Wrestling Alliance Midwest ** NWA Midwest X-Division Championship (1 time) *National Wrestling Alliance Wisconsin **NWA Wisconsin Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Dysfunction *Prime Time Wrestling **PTW Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

'' **PWI ranked him No. 201 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishi ...

in 2017

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daivari, Ariya American male professional wrestlers Living people Professional wrestlers from Minnesota Sportspeople from Minneapolis Iranian professional wrestlers 1989 births American people of Iranian descent 21st-century professional wrestlers All Elite Wrestling personnel