Exclusive: Donovan Dijak Talks Joining MLW, His Vision, Learning From WWE Run & More

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

With the wave of momentum Dijak was riding in the first few months of 2024 in NXT having had show-stealing performance after show-stealing performance, many fans figured his breakout year was bound to continue, especially once he was drafted back to the Raw roster shortly following WrestleMania 40.

Although Dijak has continued to kill it inside the squared circle, it hasn't been with WWE.

The former Ring of Honor Top Prospect Tournament winner shocked the wrestling world when he announced that WWE opted not to renew his contract at the end of June. He wasted no time returning to the independent circuit, showing up at Blitzkrieg Pro within a day of his deal expiring.

After a summer of standout matches across countless promotions, Donovan Dijak has found a new home in MLW. Over a dozen years removed from their last chat at Chaotic Wrestling, WrestleRant's Graham "GSM" Matthews caught up with Dijak to discuss what sold him on signing with the promotion, the positives of his time in WWE, finally getting the freedom to executed his freedom to the fullest extent, and much more.

Dijak's premiere appearance in MLW saw him lay waste to Nolo Kitano, LSG, Little Guido and Jimmy Lloyd in a four-way match at Summer of the Beasts on Aug. 29. Other than being accompanied by Mister Saint Laurent and bringing back his Donovan forename, it was essentially the same Dijak fans last saw on NXT TV back in April.

This year alone, MLW has acquired the likes of Matt Riddle, Sami Callihan and A.J. Francis, among others. As the company gradually gained steam, he knew that was where he wanted to ply his trade and, more importantly, bring his vision of what he wanted the Donovan Dijak character to be to life.

"A lot of it has to do with timing and vision," Dijak told WrestleRant. "Both of those things are extremely important to me at this point in my career. I haven't been shy about letting everyone know I'm 37-years-old... For me and my style and the way I like to present [myself], I'm aware I'm probably closer to the end, maybe not the end of my career but maybe the end of my high-octane in-ring style... I'm in the prime of my career in the ring and as a character and as a performer just as a total package. I'm very confident in myself from that aspect.”

Timing was also incredibly important to him when it came to putting pen to paper with MLW. He noted how he appreciated how they approached him and the format they presented him with, in addition to praising MLW's own vision and ability to collaborate with the talent's ideas. In WWE, he had to make the most of what he was given, and since then, he's enrolled in acting training and has learned how to emotionally invest in a script.

"My current vision started [in NXT]," Dijak said. "The things that I'm saying and the way that I'm acting and talking, now the whole vision is coming to presentation and MLW wanted to dive head-first into that. That's speaking my language at this point in my career. Those two pieces really presented themselves to me in a really appealing light to me at the correct time in my career and life, so I'm 100 percent diving head-first into everything with MLW and it's a very exciting time.”

Dijak went on to detail how the end of his NXT run was as much of his vision as he could possibly get across, a stark contrast to his main roster run where he was doomed with a lousy gimmick as a member of RETRIBUTION. As T-Bar, he was dead on arrival, but once he was repacked as Dijak in late 2022, he found new life in NXT and went on an absolute tear in feuds with Wes Lee, Tony D'Angelo, Eddy Thorpe and Joe Gacy.

He's aware that he was merely a piece of a much bigger puzzle in WWE, and that the audience wasn't going to get the full picture and presentation of the Dijak character during his time there. However, he was happy with being a lot of leeway while down in developmental.

"That being said, it wasn't my full vision, obviously," Dijak said. "In WWE, you almost never get someone's full vision... What I am excited about is the business decision MLW made with me and I feel like I can finally present that full vision and full product with all the bells and whistles I have in my brain.”

​We'll get on live TV at some point. I've got time. I'm 37, I'm not 87. I'll be okay, but right now, I like to focus on the positives as much as I can.

The seven-footer made it clear to WWE brass at multiple points throughout his tenure that he always wanted to be a top guy for them, but he was never given feedback on what he needed to do to get to that elite level, nor does he hold it against them.

"I was talking to my buddy Anthony Greene and said, 'Man, there's a big piece of this from the WWE puzzle that I miss and it's the thrill of being on live television.' That's hard to replicate," Dijak added. "I know a lot of this stuff is streamed online and there's similarities there, but it's hard to replicate that, 'All right, three, two, one, your music hits, you're live in front of 1.2 million people.' That's a thrill you can't replicate anywhere else. Double-edged sword, pros and cons. I liked the positives, but there's also different aspects of it you have to acknowledge. We'll get on live TV at some point. I've got time. I'm 37, I'm not 87. I'll be okay, but right now, I like to focus on the positives as much as I can.”

His exceptional indie run, along with his stellar series of matches with Keith Lee, earned him a spot on the WWE roster back in 2017. He discussed continuing to follow the independent scene while in WWE and acknowledged that he never had a stint on SmackDown or Raw as himself. Despite that, he feels like he's had "multiple lives" where he's wrestled almost everyone including John Cena, Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre.

As excited as he is for his future, Dijak is equally grateful for the lessons he learned and the experiences he had in his seven years with WWE. He's the perfect fit for MLW at the moment and there's no telling where he'll show up next, but it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for him to one day return to WWE after showing them what they've missed out on by letting him go.
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“The experience of working under that pressure and those circumstances and the guys I was able to work with... the list of guys goes on and on," Dijak said. "I got to work with Bray Wyatt, so I'm not going to take it and crumple it up and throw it away and pretend it never happened. There's parts of it I'd like to crumple up and throw away, but the overall experience, I wouldn't change a second of it because it molded me and gave me the brain and the mind I have for the business right now and the experience and the perspective that all of this is subjective and really nobody has one correct answer. It's all so fluid. We all have different ideas and it's a meticulous collaboration among all of us in terms of feedback and opinions, things like that. It's all just fun, it's really what it is.”

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