Dijak talks contract, Retribution, more (Patreon)

Fightful Select had the opportunity to have an exclusive interview with soon-to-be free agent Donovan Dijak.

Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp began the interview by mentioning how the WWE tends to simplify wrestlers' names. Still, with Dijak, they went a different route, making it more difficult with Donovan Dijakovic.

The thought process behind it was due to his Croatian heritage. Dijak said they had conversations about making it sound more European. Dijak said that he liked that Dijak was still incorporated but did believe it was a mouthful, as it was way too long for a WWE name, but that’s what was presented to him. Dijak said he took some inspiration from Mirko Cro Cop’s name. Dijak says by the end of the Dijakovic run, most people were calling him Dijakovic instead of Dijak.

Dijak said that when he came into the WWE, it was around the same time they brought in Lio Rush, The Undisputed Era, and other known independent wrestlers. He mentioned that when he began with the company, he wrestled under his real name, Christopher Dijak. Dijak mentioned that only his Mom and Wife call him “Chris.” The idea of wrestling under his birth name was not ideal. He noted this was when he was biding his time in the WWE at the beginning of his tenure. He said he pitched a bunch of names over the year, and it came down to “Donovan Dijakovic.” He also mentioned that the last time he wrestled under the ring name “Donovan Dijak,” it was against Keith Lee at a PWG event. [Pro Wrestling Guerrilla: Battle Of Los Angeles 2017]

He discussed how Retribution began in great detail. Dijak discussed how he was added to it and some ideas he pitched to Vince McMahon. Dijak told Sean that the whole feeling of Retribution was, “We don’t know.” Dijak said that, in general, nobody in the WWE has a solid sense of the booking or trajectory, especially talent; he did add that the top guys could.

Dijak mentioned being called up to Raw. He said it was during a period of confusion in WWE; COVID just started. He jokingly said that when he got called up, it was a catastrophe for some reason. He mentioned during his first call-up that Paul Heyman was let go, and then Bruce Prichard came in. Dijak said he didn’t know who to go to. I was told I got called up, but no one approached him with anything.

Dijak told us that Vince's first impression of him was horrible. He said he went to Vince’s office and opened the door, interrupting a production meeting that featured several writers. He mentioned that Jason Jordan was also in the room. Overall, it wasn’t good.

The talk of Mustafa Ali joining Retribution came up. Sean asked Dijak when they found out Ali would be involved in the story. He said they didn’t know and found out that day. Dijak said it was way after the hacker. He added everyone who was involved in Retribution, except for Mercedes Martinez because she was only in it for two weeks because she was like, f**k this. I don’t want any part of this.’’ Everybody else put their heart and soul into making it presentable because what they would give us every week was the most atrocious thing you’d ever see. It was not good. It was very bad.

Dijak said it would go from inexplicably horrible to just bad, and they worked their asses off to make it happen. Dijak would tell Fightful that Ali would go into Vince’s office and pitch, “Please don’t do this. It’s going to get us canceled. It’s going to get us fired. We’re going to look horrible. We’ll still lose, but don’t let us lose this way.” Every week was a f**king battle. It was a fight for our lives because we knew we were one step away from being obliterated off the face of the earth, and everyone is a f**king excellent wrestler. ‘Please, just let us be ourselves. Let us wrestle. Give us time. Let us create this. Let us fix what you screwed up.”

Dijak mentioned it being a battle every week. He said it wasn’t all bad because he was around his friends. He and his friends were on the main roster, and people talked about them. He would, however, mention that the only feedback they would get was from Twitter and mentioned Twitter eviscerated them every time they were on TV.

Dijak said people would endlessly put him down, and he was in a dark place, mentally at one time. He said he was trying to make it interesting [Retribution]; he would “shoot” on everyone and say nonsense. He added that he had told plenty of regrettable things in character. He noted that the Thunderdome was a unique yet wild experience.

He said the Amway Center was the most fun part of the ThunderDome era. He mentioned that it was one of the coolest experiences in his life and in WWE history. He mentioned how he would get to experience Raw.

He said talent would finish their segment, go to catering, get their food, and then sit in the nosebleed seats in an empty arena and watch, from the hardcam point of view, Monday Night Raw as a fan for only us. He said he was getting his own personal Monday Night Raw. As a fan, it was the coolest thing you could experience. Dijak said it was a personal highlight for himself but added that the product was not so much.

Dijak spoke about working on WWE Main Event. He said his kids are young, and he has to spend a lot of time with them because he hasn’t been doing house shows or PLEs. He also mentioned that he did not get flown out for a third of Raws. He said he was working five days a month and spending a lot of time at home with his kids.

WWE’s release practices came up. Dijak said it’s one of the most horrific business practices he’s ever witnessed. He added he would be outspoken about this until it gets fixed. Dijak noted this is not how it should be done, and they need to figure out a way to contact everybody all at once and let everybody know that this is happening.

Dijak said they could fire anyone, even someone with a decent spot, then in NXT. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that a guy from the main roster would get sent to NXT and then released. He mentioned it’s happened many times and was once his concern. He said you were watching people drop like flies. He believes there has to be a better way. He talked about how Ali was announced for a PLE and then was released. I feel secure, but I bet he felt secure. He mentioned if he had been released when his former partner Slapjack (Shane Haste) was released, Dijak would have had some problems because he did not have a backup plan. Dijak said Shane is still recovering from what they did to him. Dijak added, “It was a mugging. He was ripped out of his tag team, made SLAPJACK, a bigger joke than T-BAR, and then cast aside for a year and released.”

On those release days, Dijak mentioned that those in the WWE would be on Sean Ross Sapp’s Twitter page. He said they don’t have another source, and Sean finds out before they do. Dijak noted that if a 203 area code number popped up, it meant “you’re f**ked.”

He would talk about being at the PC during the last WWE Draft and how he knew the writing was on the wall after discovering he would be part of the supplemental draft.

Dijak told us that he did not pitch the idea of going back to NXT during his last run. He was nervous about it because Vince was still in charge of creative at the time.

Sean asked Dijak if he hated AEW. Dijak said, “People have this funny idea in their head that I hate AEW and that I was this WWE shill, which is not the case. I was very protective of NXT when I was part of it. He mentioned that, for the most part, NXT Black and Gold is now in AEW. He also spoke about his tweet regarding Kenny Omega. Dijak told us Fightful that he clarified this in a tweet. He said there was no animosity towards one another as far as he knew. Dijak would mention that Omega was taking shots at the roster that he was part of. So, Dijak took shots back. Dijak added that he has the utmost respect for Kenny and everyone else in AEW, and Dijak said that Omega is one of the best wrestlers in the world. Dijak would also add that he respects Cody and everyone who created AEW. Dijak said his viewpoint would never change on that but also noted that he would never back down from an altercation.

These are exclusive Fightful Select notes from our upcoming interview with Dijak. The interview will be available on Youtube and your favorite podcast platform on June 28th at noon EST.

Youtube Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmPbtbKiH2E