Lower than two months after being chosen to RAW within the 2024 WWE Draft, Donovan Dijak was instructed his providers had been not wanted by his now-former employer, formally turning into a free agent after the corporate confirmed no real interest in negotiating a brand new contract with the previous Retribution member.
Now to some, this transfer got here as a shock, as WWE seemingly would not have introduced Dijak as much as RAW in the event that they did not have one thing deliberate for him, however after a enjoyable run in NXT that seemingly rehabbed his profession inside the promotion, he did completely nothing on the principle roster and now heads off to free company, the place he might signal with any promotion he pleases immediately.
Certainly that will not be AEW, proper? Effectively, whereas Dijak has stated some fairly harsh issues concerning the promotion previously throughout his preliminary run in NXT, actually, the one-time Retribution member instructed Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful that he really holds no unwell will in direction of the promotion, as he was merely defending the place he labored and the co-workers he shared the ring with, a lot of whom at present work for Tony Khan.
“Individuals have this humorous concept of their head that I hate AEW and that I used to be this WWE shill, which isn’t the case. I used to be very protecting of NXT after I was a part of it, which paradoxically is most of AEW at this level. Black & Gold simply shifted over manufacturers to AEW,” Dijak instructed Fightful.
“If individuals had been speaking s**t about NXT, I’d give it proper again as a result of I’m all the time going to really feel that means about myself and the individuals I’m surrounded with and related to. In case you take a look at the AEW roster, I’ve wrestled most likely 80% of them between Ring of Honor and NXT Black & Gold. That’s many of the roster. All these individuals are my pals. At no level was I in opposition to the concept (of AEW).”
Requested about his relationship with Kenny Omega, who famously known as Dijak “Donovan D**khead” in a BTE phase, the now-free agent let or not it’s identified that he would not maintain their interactions in opposition to one another, and can be joyful to work with him sooner or later.
“I clarified this in a tweet. Kenny and I, so far as I do know, now we have no animosity in direction of each other. When that occur, he made the preliminary assertion. I don’t know if it was a piece or a shoot. It doesn’t trouble me both means. I heard the interview or noticed the transcription, and he was taking photographs at a roster that I used to be a part of,” Dijak famous.
“So, I took photographs again as a result of that’s what I’ll all the time do. I don’t care if Vince McMahon took a shot at me. I’d tweet at Vince McMahon. If somebody comes at me, I’m all the time going to defend myself, and it’ll all the time be lighthearted. I’ve the utmost respect for Kenny and everybody else in AEW. I’ve by no means stated in any other case. He’s among the best wrestlers on this planet, and I respect him, Cody, and everybody who created AEW. I’ll by no means change my viewpoint. I may even by no means again down from an altercation.”
Whereas Dijak will not be the preferred performer in WWE historical past, and thus most likely will not be the primary free agent TK makes an attempt to signal in the marketplace, he’s good pals with Shane Haste, who rejoined TMDK in New Japan after spending time as Slapjack in Retribution alongside the previous T-Bar. If TMDK needs so as to add one other member, an enormous, enforcer sort who can put in work alongside Zack Sabre Jr., and NJPW is prepared to pony up, do not be stunned if the previous RAW wrestler reveals up at Forbidden Door to actually open issues up in AEW.
Dijak reveals how he ended up on the WWE important roster in 2020.
Elsewhere in his interview with Sean Ross Sapp, Dijak revealed how he ended up on the WWE important roster in 2020 and whether or not or not he was initially known as up with Retribution in thoughts.
“The entire really feel of it was, ‘We don’t know.’ I do know they didn’t know as a result of I used to be there chatting with him about it. It’s 2020, we’re coming off Portland TakeOver, me and Keith are coming off this nice feud. I don’t have a strong sense of what the reserving…no person in WWE has an excellent strong sense of the reserving or the trajectory, particularly expertise. Possibly these in cost do, however expertise, even the highest guys, they could have a common concept, however nothing is ready in stone. It looks as if we’re constructing to a triple risk at (the following) TakeOver. I’ve all this new gear that nobody has seen,” Dijak instructed Fightful.
“It’s modeled after the Emperor from ‘Gladiator,’ it’s this white swimsuit of armor for entrance gear. It’s lovely and price me a fortune as a result of I by no means used it. TakeOver acquired canceled and shifted to USA Community, which was a disaster. COVID hits, disrupts the whole lot. I begin getting a really feel, individuals began speaking to me extra, that I used to be previously versus the longer term. I used to be like, ‘I ponder if the plan was to do one thing at TakeOver, after which that acquired shifted.’ Normally, guys acquired known as up on the RAW after WrestleMania. I assumed possibly one thing was taking place round then however the timeline was shifted round. All of RAW is on the PC, there isn’t a crowd, it’s odd. I get notified a bit of earlier than I wrestled Johnny Gargano, I used to be the primary man he wrestled as a heel in that run. I had primarily turned babyface. I acquired notified, sooner or later in that window, that I used to be being known as as much as RAW. ‘Nice, that is great.’ It by no means actually occurred. This was such a interval of confusion in WWE.”
After working some incredible matches with the likes of Keith Lee and Johnny Wrestling throughout his time in NXT, it actually did really feel like WWE known as up Dijak with no clear plan for his run, as he went from working promising matches as Dominik Dijakovic to being caught in the midst of the pack as T-Bar seemingly out of the blue. Whereas WWE should not be shamed for making an attempt new concepts, this one actually did not work, and each single member of the factions was finally launched from the promotion in no small half due to the angle’s failure in consequence.
