Feast your eyes on what Donovan Dijak has planned for his next chapter.
Dijak shocked everyone with his appearance in MLW. The former ROH and WWE star showed up unannounced at the promotion’s “Summer Of The Beasts” live event, attacking all four competitors in the ring before saying he was coming for the MLW World Championship. Dijak will move one step closer to a title shot when he makes his in-ring debut at MLW Fightland in a match against Timothy Thatcher.
Dijak spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about how his MLW debut came to fruition. MLW boss Court Bauer was one of the first people to reach out after Dijak became a free agent in June. From there, MLW’s MSL followed up with conversations about his character and booking, which made Dijak realize there could be a big opportunity for him here.
Donovan Dijak on getting an opportunity to compete in MLW
“Relatively close to the show that I went to in New York City, I’d say maybe two weeks from that. Maybe give or take a week somewhere in there, I was contacted by MSL. And that’s when the first sort of conversation about like actual sort of character stuff and booking came into the discussion. So that was the first time where I got the sense that, ‘Oh you know, this is a more serious opportunity as opposed to kind of like a one-off.’ Which is fine, I have nothing against a one-off. I’ve been doing tons of them,” Dijak explained.
“So that was the first time when I got a sense that they were really interested in me as an asset to their company. And I was like, ‘Okay. If they are willing to invest intellectual property into me then I am going to invest my time and effort into them.’ And that’s when we started to get a little more serious about what direction it was heading,” he added. “We started talking about dates, and business, and things like that. We were able to work out an agreement and it’s so far, so good. I’ve been very happy with everything.”
Dijak and MLW are investing in each other
Dijak said he was incredibly impressed with how quickly and professionally MLW put together video packages for him. They filmed B-roll and other promotional footage and ended up with a final product by the time he walked through the curtain. He says he even caught himself trying to watch the finished video behind his trademark sunglasses on the entrance ramp.
“I was super-impressed with, we did some quick sort of B-Roll footage just in front of a green screen and some stuff in front of a back drop, just me kind of walking around and looking intimidating and stuff like that,” he explained. “I said, ‘I’m going to go finish getting ready for my run-in thing.’ In that one-hour period, the Doomsday [countdown clock] happens and then the music hits. And there’s already a well-produced video, an entrance video of me walking around looking tough with the footage that we had just filmed on the roof like 45 minutes earlier.
“As I am walking out, I’m kinda like, I’m trying to play the part of the character,” he noted. “But out of the side of my eye, behind my sunglasses, I am looking at the video like, ‘They just made that video. This literally just happened.’ So I thought that was the coolest thing in the world.”
“I’m seeing that investment”
Little details like that showed Dijak that there was a real investment in him, and he wanted to pay that back with his best effort, too.
“I’ve been doing this 12 years now and you get very comfortable hearing things and taking everything with a grain of salt. ‘Okay sure, I’m… You think that I’m going to be a valuable asset. Okay. Sure.’ And then you hear that and you go, ‘Okay. Let’s see if they practice what they preach.’ Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. And that’s just the nature of the business. Again, I’m not holding this against anybody,” Dijak pointed out. “It’s a very volatile sort of business where things change and plans change. I know that’s the catchphrase, ‘Plans change.’ That’s the reality and I accept that as a business person. Which is why I don’t emotionally invest into everything that’s ever told to me. Because if I do, I’d lose my mind.
“You see it all the time with pro wrestlers. Pro wrestlers just have these public tirades and meltdowns all the time. Because they are told one thing and something else happens and that’s frustrating because you emotionally invest in it. I’ve had that happen to me enough times where I no longer emotionally invest into anything that anybody tells me. I will put my 100 percent into something where I am seeing my reciprocation. And that’s what I am seeing now,” Dijak said. “That’s what I am seeing from MLW. I’m seeing that emotional investment. I am seeing that business investment. So now, I’m diving in head first. Because I want to reciprocate that ten-fold. That’s just how my mind operates. If someone is going to invest in me then I’m going to put all my time and energy into promoting that and making it as valuable as I possibly can.”
Donovan Dijak never wants to be stagnant
Dijak cited pro wrestling veterans like Chris Jericho and Matt Hardy as two people who can consistently and successfully reinvent themselves. Dijak doesn’t want to get stagnant either and has a vision for what his wrestling character should be.
He says he presented this to many in WWE, noting that Vince McMahon, Triple H, and Shawn Michaels have all heard the pitch. However, his vision was never realized, and no one has seen the “full package” yet. Dijak doesn’t blame anyone, noting it’s just the nature of the business. Now, MLW is helping him realize that vision and he believes fans will really engage with it.
“Everybody across the WWE system got my vision in some form or some capacity. It never fully came to fruition,” Dijak said. “Right now, I want my full vision to be presented and so far so good. So, in a sense yes, it’s a reinvention in the sense that no one has seen this full presentation yet. But in another sense, it has always been there in my mind. I’ve always wanted to… Now by always, I mean for the past two years or whatever. But I have been sort of project it, it’s been coming in bits and pieces and nobody has gotten the full package yet. Now in MLW, I think everybody is ready, and interested, and going to experience the full package. I am super excited about that.”
A new piece of the puzzle
Dijak didn’t see himself with a manager, but MSL coming on as another piece of the puzzle excites him. He says he’s always thinking of what’s next. He’s always wanted to have the ball and be a top guy, and he’s getting that chance with MLW.
“That’s the most intriguing part of this presentation to me right? I know what I want to bring to the table and how I want to present that. But in terms of a new piece of it, when you can tell that story, that dynamic between two characters and how they interact with each other and how they came to be, that’s the story that I think is super captivating because it’s a brand new piece of the puzzle. And that’s the kind of stuff the fans can really sink their teeth into. So I’m always thinking about what’s next, what’s the next part of it.”
Put it all on his shoulders
Dijak has always felt strongly about his promos, whether it’s in-ring or backstage. He got plenty of vignettes in NXT and he was happy with it, but he wanted more.
“I was so happy with all that stuff. That I wanted more of and what I pushed for more of and I got. Again, bits and pieces of it when it presented itself was the in-ring microphone portion of it. Because that piece of it started to come more and more towards the end. But I always wanted everything to be a focal point. The more vignettes, the more in-ring, the more wrestling pay-per-view and stuff like that. I wanted all that,” he explained.
“I wasn’t shy about telling WWE that I wanted to be a top guy right? But I’ve always felt that I want to be a top guy, I want to have as many things put on my shoulders as possible. And now I feel like I am getting that opportunity with MLW,” Dijak said. “They started me off with an in-ring promo. We have already filmed vignettes. We have already done the presentation with the manager and the storyline. And the visual aspect of it. So, to me it is firing on all cylinders. And I am super excited about it.”
Donovan Dijak vs. Timothy Thatcher takes place at MLW Fightland on September 14. Watch our full interview with Donovan Dijak below:
