Former WWE star Donovan Dijak spoke with WrestleZoneโs Bill Pritchard about various topics, including being hesitant to initially join MLW.
Dijak said, โI didnโt want to be put in a situation that I had just been in for a long time. Thatโs ultimately what it boils down to. That was my concern. So there was a month or two there where I was thinking about it, and I was considering it, and then I had a phone call with both Court [Bauer] and Saint Laurent. They were speaking to me, and just from talking to them, I got a very good sense that this was going to be different, which isnโt to imply that my run in WWE was horrible. It wasnโt right. I was given a ton of opportunities, especially toward the end. I was put in a position where itโs been less than a year since I was able to have one of the biggest matches of my career in front of 16,000 people. A wonderful platform that gave me the opportunity to be a character that I designed and wanted to be. So, Iโm eternally thankful for all those opportunities, but what I was looking for at that point in my career was something more right. By more, I mean more pressure, more responsibility in terms of a talent because I was constantly requesting to be featured as a top guy in WWE,โ he adds. โSo thatโs what I wanted to communicate to MLW: Here, hereโs how I view myself. If thatโs not how you view me, thatโs fine, no worries, but, but this is what Iโm looking for in terms of presentation and my guarantee to whoever wants to give me that is, Iโm going to continue to do what Iโve always done, and thatโs completely exceed your expectations. Every time I was given an opportunity in WWE, I didnโt say, โOkay, let me, let me do what theyโre asking of me.โ It was, โHow do I have the best triple threat match in WWE history,โ right? That was always my goal. I donโt know whether I achieved that or not, but that was my mindset. โHow do I have the best Last Man Standing match in WWE history, in pro wrestling history,โ right? These are the goals I set for myself when Iโm given opportunities. So the fact that MLW is giving me these opportunities, thatโs when my mind starts going just completely over the top.โ
On MLW sharing his vision on how to grow the company:
โHow do I continue to progress in this company? How do I put everything on my back? How do I put the pressure on an entire company and say, โIโm going to be the top guy?โ Iโm going to take this thing where itโs never been before. Iโm going to try to progress us to a point where people look at MLW the same way we do. That became the collaborative mission, and theyโve completely exceeded all my expectations in terms of execution. Itโs a complete collaboration. Iโm so happy with the presentation so far, and Iโm super excited to continue working in that direction towards those goals because we all have the same vision.โ
You can check out Dijak’s comments in the video below.
(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)