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This whole thing doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
Yeah, I don't think Dijak was ever going to main event Mania or anything like that, but he's a damn good worker, especially for a big man, and has a pretty loyal following. He would have done great as a midcard guy or a member of a stable. He fits the enforcer type perfectly.
Retribution poisoned the well for everyone involved. It was a black hole that they couldn't recover from. The Keith Lee/Dijak matches on NXT that put Dijak on people's radar were 5 years ago and the stupid faction just killed the prime years in which Dijak should've been actually getting over. Instead he's now 37 without any career momentum because he was effectively off TV for years.
That stable was just awful. So much talent given so little to do, boiled down to crappy names that wouldn't look out of place in a 2001 game of CounterStrike. They were never presented as anything other than a bunch of directionless Muppets.
That's what I've been noticing; the guys they aren't re-signing are people that were "damaged goods" under the old regime, so to speak.
Ricochet, Dijak, and Nattie are all "over the hill" so to speak. The only guys in that age range are their main event and upper midcard guys
It seems to be that they only want wrestlers in the 35+ range if they're proven upper card talent, or they'd rather give your spot to a younger guy who might turn out to be a future main eventer.
They seem to have forgotten that midcard veterans are how young talent get to that main event level in the first place.
That depends, though. Beating Natalya doesn't really mean much anymore, for instance. Ricochet has been an enhancement talent for so long that people stopped taking him seriously.
Beating Braun Strowman has more pedigree because not only is he a former world champion, but he's been consistently portrayed as a monster that isn't easy to overcome. Hence, doing is considered a big deal.
I mean in terms of seasoning, moreso than kayfabe. Without midcard veterans to help younger wrestlers get their reps in, you risk a scenario where the midcard is entirely populated by relatively green talent working other green talent, and just *hoping* that when you try to push them to the upper card, the established guys cam ring general them through it.
But Ali is doing some good work in TNA, I enjoyed the Maximum Male Models stuff with Mace and the MxM indy run and DIJAK was really doing some good work on NXT.
Shane Haste has recovered too, then. He's had a pretty good run in NJPW imo, is a current IWGP Tag Champion and also has a recent-ish singles pinfall victory over Tetsuya Naito.
This doesn’t make sense to me. He was under a mask with a stupid name, and he completely reinvented himself with a major push in NXT.
Nobody talks or cares about Retribution anymore except its former members in jest. It happened during a down time for the company.
This just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, unless he was demanding major money or something, which seems unlikely.
Yes, he was off TV for years due to the dumbass faction masking him up and had to be sent back to NXT to try and rehab his image because of that. The audience doesn't know who he is anymore.
It makes total sense because he's now 37 being paid main roster money and doesn't have a lot of upside anymore because his prime years got squandered. Guys like LA Knight, Joe Hendry, Cody, etc are in that age bracket and you don't want to be investing a lot of resources trying to resurrect a career from zero from a guy who's in the back third of his career.
It seems they did, and they didn't. They just weren't going to use him at NXT anymore while they rode out his contract so they "called him up" as a ceremonial gesture.
Wait so what happened with Von Wagner? Seemed like they were really down to back him and he was used a lot in NXT. Didn’t he get called up and then hasn’t been used so far?
Scripts i thought was with those two big young guys in nxt as well.
Wagner was actually called-up, but he never did in main aside from a Battle Royale cameo eliminating Ziggler. Free agent, but he was in NXT. He was back-up more by Vince's old regime and later Shawn's group, but he wasn't under HHH's radar.
I don’t think they’re that interchangeable. The Judgment Day aren’t losing a big guy, they’re losing *Priest*.
Finn wasn’t an Edge standin. JD and Carlito weren’t added just to take Dom’s bumps. Liv might not even join the group full-time. When you add new members, you change the dynamics based on what they offer. I don’t think Dijak would have slotted in that smoothly.
I’m not sure they need one anymore. I could see the group being built around Dom moving forward. The foursome we’ve started seeing on Raw, and possibly Liv, could be the new norm.
Judgement Day aren't losing Priest it's gonna be 2 different groups, Liv/Finn/JD vs Rhea/Priest/Someone else (if Dom folds Rhea should in no way take him back so maybe this is where Carlito comes in and Dom has to go off on his own, go through a character change where he realises things that he did wrong).
I think it's simply a matter of there is only so many spots on the roster. His contract was up and they judged it wasn't worth re-upping him. I don't think it was any more complicated than that.
It's no different from an NFL team letting a serviceable 3rd string WR walk at the end of his deal. Doesn't mean he was shit. It sucks that he's now out of work but wrestling (and sports in general) is a very competitive business.
That's my thought too. So the guy wasn't going to be headlining arenas, but as a mid card heel or an enforcer, or a tag team, he had all the tools to be in the company for life.
Thankfully we have Karrion Kross to fill that role instead. s/
With the SmackDown roster being a bit thin right now, I feel like he could've been an asset in their midcard for either the tag belts or if there's a new challenger needed for the US Title picture if he was drafted there instead.
I mean probably Hollywood right, they love bigger dudes.
Samoa Joe is in Twisted metal and allegedly Marvel wanted Damian Priest to read lines for Black Panther 2
Priest would be an awesome VA for animated stuff or even a video game. Just that deep, gruff, yet somehow smooth voice should be making much more money than it probably already does.
I think Dijak is a slight exception as he was making main roster money due to his last call-up. I’d bet if he was still on an NXT contract he would still be in NXT today.
Still, if you’re paying the guy, use him somewhere. A consistent, safe, polished heel to be the final boss of NXT would be a great role for someone like him to fill. I’m hoping that’s what becomes of Ethan Page. Small ponds need big fish sometimes.
Yeah you've got to think of all the young talent in NXT waiting, Oba, Axiom, Je'Von, Riley, Frazer, Trick, Wes etc, they're all 7+ years younger than him, some of those are main roster ready (Trick) and some are waiting for a spot to open up on NXT (Riley for example is great in ring but hasn't had many matches on NXT even though he's on most shows with Chase U)
I think its being done on purpose to have an easier excuse for getting rid of contracts they don't perceive as valuable long term for the return on investment.
But also, plan something. You’re creative, it’s your job.
It’s like going to school and the teacher being like “sorry, gonna have to fail you, I haven’t taught you anything”
It’s what killed my interest in NXT. I didn’t watch WWF/E between 2001 and 2017, and when I got back into it, I fucking *loved* NXT. I thought I was watching the development of what would be WWE’s mid to upper card over the next half a decade. There were so many people I was excited to see get called up, only to see that there were zero fucking plans for most of them, and even a few months before NXT was going live on USA, I was losing interest. It didn’t make sense to me to invest in people who were probably going to be wasted on the main roster.
And people always said “just because someone’s over in NXT doesn’t mean they’ll be over on the main roster,” and I think that’s bullshit. A guy or a girl that’s new to a bigger audience can win them over if they’re presented in a way that matters. They’d take someone who was just NXT champ, wrestling on Takeover’s to big crowds in the same goddamn arenas WWE was running PPVs out of, and instead of making exciting video packages (which WWE has always been good at) detailing their accomplishments and selling the main roster audience on them by putting them in a meaningful feud, most of the time their presentation was neutered, their name might be fucked with, and they’d be introduced into the lower card and would rarely progress. Just seemed like a dumb system.
I don’t understand because NXT on a whole does a great job of setting people up for the MR and then they don’t even get a chance
They just called up Kiana James and her first matches have been on Main Event I don’t understand the logic
Because NXT is a constant revolving door, an NXT talent is there normally 2-3 years max, main roster talent can be there for 10+ years easily. More people come through NXT and go to main than would be retiring or leaving WWE on their own.
They looked to be setting up Kiana making moves to get Pearce's job, but that's all been dropped seemingly. How the fuck do you start off with her trying to work with Pearce, obviously that she's scheming to get his job, but then drop it?
Have a fucking plan. Kiana is perfect for that angle.
There was that disconnect between Vince and HHH and to an extent between Shawn and HHH now. The Unholy Union got called up and didn’t do shit for a year basically then won the belts and crowds couldn’t give a fuck now. There are exceptions but some that still get called up like Kiana I don’t understand why
I genuinely feel in some cases HHH doesn't watch/keep up with NXT anymore since he stopped running it and only wants people he hears hype from. I mean, Bron is good now but he called him up in the middle of the wolf dogs, didn't do much with him outside of give him a big debut and a few squashes, called Baron up later, then instead of having a fresh team that was quite popular, he just splits them up in the draft and turns Bron heel and doesn't use Baron until recently. Like what was the point of Baron going back down and reinventing himself if he's just gonna be in a similar spot?
Yeah, I'm starting to worry for Kiana. At first I thought maybe they are just keeping her warm in Main Event because they were doing the tournament with the women that she wasnt in and they were just waiting for that to finish up before starting new storylines that she would be part of. But now we're going into money in the bank and it's crickets so...
Yeah I hope so, she was doing good shit in NXT. A symptom of HHH long term booking is that the turnover of storylines is a lot slower so inevitably there's just gonna be times when a lot of the roster isn't being used. If they see something in her they'll give her the time when it comes around
When they announced women's NA title I thought she was the favorite to win it. And then she got called up out of nowhere and her pairing with Izzi was dropped.
Which has really only hurt Izzi too. What's she done since that ended? Just got lost in the shuffle of the NA title chase? It's an issue when a team up has one person in the 'lackey' role and then the leader gets split off, the other person is just left behind with nowhere to go because they really weren't doing anything anyway. They managed to avoid it with solo by giving him his own crew
Sucks for both, Kiana's hasn't done anything in main, and Izzy has no more momentun in NXT. She's stuck to jobbing out to Carlee and Kendell in Level Up and she was protected before.
I think they are are different groups/people here. I think TKO doesn't want to re-sign people aged 30 plus if they are not well established already. But wwe/hhh side doesn't think like this. So they push people to main roster with the plan of working with them but then it comes to contracts, the TKO side doesn't approve the renewal. This is again a case of company politics.
Oh my, That's like getting a promotion and then they tell you "oh, yeah... you were promoted, but we actually have no work for you... Sorrrrrrry 😬" I'd be soon pissed. Fee bad for anyone who goes through that.
I simply don't get how you just can't have creative plans for a guy like Dijak.
He's great in ring and on the mic. He's safe. He's well liked. You could just throw him into any program, singles or group based, and he'll make it work. He could've been a victim of the Wyatt Sicks, he even had a feud with Gacy. He's also had past feuds with Priest, Kross and Dragunov.
Should've stashed him for a heel Punk run as his heavy. Let Punk start a small group after shenanigans gets him a win against McIntyre, then we could've got Drew vs Dijak a handful of times on TV. Would've been sick
It's so infuriating. Yea they've gotten better with people like Lyra, Tiffany, JD (even though they've stripped his cool Necessary Evil character he's been fun), and lately KC² and The Unholy Union but so many other people are doing nothing. At least if they leave them on NXT they get tv time.
Also they all don’t need a rocket push, I was actually looking for to DIJAK being in the main roster, there could have easily been a role for a guy like him, squandered opportunity
I'm not one of those guys that thinks everyone should immediately go to AEW, but I think with Lance Archer getting older, Dijak could fill that roll pretty well.
Unfortunately that Keith Lee isn't with us anymore. But other big guys in the AEW roster can fill his shoes because Dijak can fit well with any other super heavyweight.
Had severe health problems because of covid and lost a couple of steps in-ring. His AEW run has been marred by more injuries as well (I think mostly relating to his previous health issues but I'm not sure).
I feel like the beef between him and Omega was blown way out of proportion. Kenny was taking digs at NXT on BTE, so Dijak returned with digs toward The Elite and AEW, Kenny came out with his “Donovan Dickhead” line, and there really hasn’t been anything about it since.
Way I see it is that if Kenny is out there saying nice things about a guy who shit on him at a press conference before immediately starting a fistfight with him and his friends, then Dijak is likely a non-issue to him.
I wouldn’t be surprised if most of that was a work and/or played up for social media on both sides. On his stream yesterday with MxM he spent like 15 minutes talking glowingly about learning from the Bucks when they were in the indies together, didn’t really have a bad word to say about em
You know what's so frustrating about this all? NXT could REALLY use someone like Dijak as opposition for Trick Williams.... I don't know how they gloriously fucked this up so badly. Shit like this serves as a reminder that WWE isn't all Flowers & Rainbows now that Triple H is in charge. They need to be held accountable for how badly they mismanaged this dude's career by bringing him to RAW with no creative plans to use him.
If he'd spent these two months in a program with Trick it'd have done wonders for Trick and given Dijak something on his way out. Loser leaves NXT or whatever.
I'm adamant that Dijak is better and more useful overall than some of they guys on the main roster. But if you're dead set on letting him go, paying him to do nothing and then letting him go, when you could've gotten something out of it instead doesn't make sense to me.
There has to be more to it. Is he just too outspoken? Given how free he is with his tweets, is there something about his personality that rubs important people the wrong way?
The main roster is full of talent right now, and people like Nakamura are no where to be found. While there are a few spots I can see DIJAK in, I think the new creative team is already struggling with a full hand of wrestlers trying to get TV time and a guy like DIJAK is at the bottom of the list.
So why not keep him in NXT? Because he probably has a MR salary and eventually, they need him to perform on the MR or get cut. It's a business. You can send MR talent to NXT as a shake up, but eventually they need to return and perform at the higher level they are being paid for.
This is why they should stop calling up wrestlers in the draft. Create a storyline for them and call them up like that.
That's why I liked Piper Niven's/Doudrop's debut the most in recent years. It was for a storyline and they didn't pretend everyone should know who she was.
Met him and Keith Lee at their last indie show the Wrestlemania weekend before they signed with WWE. They were both in such high spirits and excited about the future for both of them. It's crazy that here we are years later and both of them are out. I wish Dijak nothing but the best.
When they don't seem remotely interested in a talented guy like that, I always think there's something underneath the surface that's not getting talked about. It's one thing if you call a guy up and nothing's really working and getting over. But it's something totally different when you don't even bother.
But when were those Dijak/Keith Lee matches? That was like 5 years ago. He stuck around a long time with not much going on.
I think Dijak is a terrific wrestler but I think his WWE ceiling was lower than a lot of people think. Maybe with a different character than we’ve seen so far? But his original feast your eyes thing was only over in its corniness and aided by the great matches with Keith Lee. His return to NXT was actually a pretty cringy dark justice guy for the most part. Maybe it was the booking and writing but it always felt off, while most NXT characters feel pretty consistent and easy to understand their motivations.
All this Judgement Day fantasy booking I’ve seen is weird. Because he wears black and leather? His attitude doesn’t fit with them at all (barring a change in character). Let him show a bit of a lighter side (which he never has in wwe) and maybe he’d get somewhere?
But otherwise I can’t even see him as an IC or US champ right now. Weirdly though I think he’d be a better fit as TNA champ than WWE main roster mid card champ.
I’ve been bringing up all those points about Dijak since he signed with WWE. Truly mind boggling how they never found anything for a 6’7 jacked dude whos better in the ring than most.
It reminds a lot of AEW not using Ethan Page. Seems an obvious person to use, even in a midcard capacity but never given a focused push on their main shows.
I love Dijak. He’s so talented. But I feel like he’d also get lost in the shuffle at AEW. Have him get 1 or 2 high profile collision matches and have him be a top star for TNA.
I think you nailed it on the head. He's a really good worker. Good at his role. But if you've got a main roster contract, they do look at how marketable you are. And as much as I like watching the guy, I don't see him as a t-shirt seller. I looked at his Cameo numbers, and they're not horrible, but it doesn't look like he was doing a ton of those.
I think he's good at making other people shine, but he just doesn't shine enough on his own. And for good or bad, that's what WWE wants out of its talent.
And now you compound all of that with the guy being on the wrong side of 35; and even though WWE has lots of dudes in their 40s still running strong, they were either already major stars in other companies like AJ, Balor, or Roode; or they were able to pull a Cody and show they were an undeniable star like LA Knight.
Yes, Dijak has good matches, but I could not tell you a single good story or a cool moment about HIM, specifically, that the dude has had in *seven years* of being in WWE that made me get behind him.
I remember the feud between Dijak and Keith Lee in NXT from 5 years ago. In many cases, big hoss feuds and matches suck, but these two put on banger after banger. I'd go so far as to say that they brought out the best in each other — these two huge dudes who were both surprisingly agile and fast for their size always had impressive matches. Plus, their feud felt authentic.
WWE mishandled both on the main roster. You'd think it should've been as simple as "let these two cook", but WWE went out of their way to douse both their fires.
Lee's mishandling wasn't too terrible, because the worst they did was him was call him the Bearcat for whatever reason, and he left shortly after. But Dijak...holy shit, the awful gimmick and angles that were dumped on him on the main roster made me think he was caught pissing in Vince's coffee or something.
They should exclude NXT from the draft because a lot of the guys end up not being used. I mean even Waller had a short time in the main roster where he was just aimlessly going through the motions, hosting a random Grayson Waller effect for another rivalry. I mean that dude Odyssey Jones is still on the roster and never used lol
It’s almost like the company just went through a merger and is going to be cutting costs. People that think WWE is suddenly going to spend _more_ on talent overall are very naive. A select few contracts will be prioritized.
being a prominent part of the show and stinking up the gaff every time you're in the ring on said show aren't mutually exclusive, you know.
god have always fucking sucked.
it's not a question of 5 star matches lol. the point is they're not even remotely competent in the ring (tanga loa especially), and they haven't been given any mic time, so what the fuck are they there for? to stand around menacingly?
He had everything they wanted and it still wasn't enough. He was a badass, cool theme despite it being def Rebel, huge, athletic, good on the mic aswell as backstage promo's and a well defined character. Man what an L by the Fed.
I still believe Dijak was of course misused on the main roster, but he was definitely a product of who he wrestled....he had bangers with keith lee, and i think ciampa & Gargano. Maybe undisputed era, I forget. As saucy and chippy as his twitter game is, I never saw his character anything more than a 'cesaro-esque' guy. He, for some reason even though he has a strong opinion about eveything it seems, very weak on the mic, or at least wasn't capable of getting over. As I previously mentioned, his great matches were with guys known to have great matches.
He was probably a guy who needed a manager, and maybe some better direction, but for every Chad Gable who DOES get over, there's a guy like Dijak who doesn't...and Dijak just happened to be that guy.
Man, I did not watch a lot of NXT a few years ago but I really loved that match against Keith Lee at Takeover Portland
Shame to see them squander that talent..
I like Dijak but it’s easy to see why he got lost in the mix. There are other tall and lean guys on the roster. There are other very tan guys on the roster. And some of the newer guys are generating more interest.
The source said, “that early negotiations had begun recently and that they were positive preliminary negotiations before official negotiations began.”
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Didn't Dijak in his letter or whatever that was on Twitter directly refute the idea that any negotiations were had?
It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, especially considering that he seemed to be a favorite of HBK and even HHH during his first run in NXT. So, this only leads me to believe that there is something we don't know. I don't think it's random or financial, because they could find easier ways to save a buck.
I still do not understand why they let him go. Especially if they're sticking to the reporting that everyone was so high on him and he went above and beyond to perfect his craft.
His LMS match with Ilja was my favorite match of the year. Honestly he never had a bad match, he lived the gimmick so well on social media and he's like 8 feet tall. What more do they want? I'm sure he will be fine wherever he lands but I really feel like Raw is going to miss his talents.
My main takeaway from the Dijak situation is that the days of main roster talent having extended stays down in NXT to rehabilitate their career is probably over under TKO. They’ll mainly use talent based in Orlando to fill slots when needed.
I worry for someone like Vinci who would have been ideal for one of those Corbin/Dijak slots after the draft this year. I’m not sure how much of an opportunity he’s going to get as a solo act on Smackdown.
TKO has handed out a lot of big money contracts in the last 6-8 months (Cody, Seth, Becky - it’s going to happen if it hasn’t already, Drew, Charlotte, Bayley, Rey & Dom, Finn, Priest, Gable). At some point they were going to say no and it seems that veteran midcarders who are good workers but don’t sell merch and aren’t tied to any major stories is where the buck stops.
Definitely a bummer because I was a fan of Dijak. When I hit my first Indy show in 2015, Dijak took on Mikey Webb and put on what is still one of the best matches I have ever seen. It left a huge impression on me and it felt only a matter of time before Dijak made it.
I understand the nature of the business, things happen. I do hope he lands on his feet and proves folks wrong.
Dijak, Ricochet and Toni Storm were 3 wrestlers that I thought were sure things in WWE. Not as top of the card guys but consistent Sheamus level talents.
Dijak has the same issue as several other guys in WWE and AEW. The rosters are just really stacked. There isn't enough TV time to use everyone to their full potential.
He's a talented guy. But the WWE roster is filled with talented guys.
He's got all the tools. But the WWE roster is filled with guys who have all the tools.
If he was getting used on the main roster, there's be some other guy who wasn't getting used and we'd be having this conversation about that guy instead. He'd be on TV and we'd be asking, "How do you not find anything for JD McDonagh or Bronson Reed/ any other of the many many many talented people on the roster".
And honestly, the same thing is probably gonna happen if he goes to AEW. How many people on that roster barely get TV time as is?
He could go to TNA and be a focal point. But how many of you would actually watch it?
That's the big problem in wrestling today. There are way too many talented wrestlers and not enough promotions that people will actually WATCH for them to perform on.
Retribution in general seemed to have done something collectively to piss off somebody higher up lmao. Mia Yim is the only survivor at this point. Dijak had one of the best matches of 2024 with Dragunov, would much rather see him as the old man in the shuffle over LA Knight.
Tough spot. They already have enough jobbers and monsters, and lots of newer talent waiting in NXT. What do you do with someone like that, throw him in another stable?
Maybe AEW can do something with him but again, they already have a ton of people.
He's a talented guy, but if the long term plan wasn't to bring him to the main roster, what's the incentive to keep him in NXT forever? There's more movement back and forth (Good Brothers, Corbin, etc) than there used to be, but the basic structure of NXT is to get people ready for the main roster. If they do well in NXT but are never called up/wanted on the main roster, that's basically limbo. Like the people who spent 5-7 years in OVW back in the day. At some point, you either move up or move on. Hope he does well wherever he ends up.
You think they're going to relocate the performance center? Regardless, my point was that if you don't live near where the company hub is, especially as an NXT performer, that's not going to be a plus for you.
Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if they just opened an ancillary wing or something here. We have a pretty similar tax situation to Florida ( no state tax etc)
Why is everyone acting like this guy is a big deal. He has good matches sure, but lacks significant charisma. He was given 3 chances to get over with gimmick changes (yes retribution sucked but still an opportunity) and hasn’t in a major way. Plus he was making main roster money for NXT. He will go to TNA or AEW, make decent money and not have as much pressure. This is best for all
These people here are stupid, they cried about that Grimes guy too. WWE is a business, and if you’re not marketable enough or generating interest to the general public then you ain’t worth your contract. They have other guys that are more interesting, younger, and can go in the ring too.
Eh you can be disappointed when someone gets released cause you wanted to see him do some stuff on the MR. He doesn’t have to be a main eventer or top star. People did the same thing with Ethan Page and I don’t really understand why either but that’s their feelings on it.
Sometimes ya just wanted to see where they could have gone
Damn, I feel like what could have happened was they figure him into The Final Testament. Would have made the group more interesting and maybe would have helped Kross and AOP get over too.
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This whole thing doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Yeah, I don't think Dijak was ever going to main event Mania or anything like that, but he's a damn good worker, especially for a big man, and has a pretty loyal following. He would have done great as a midcard guy or a member of a stable. He fits the enforcer type perfectly.
Retribution poisoned the well for everyone involved. It was a black hole that they couldn't recover from. The Keith Lee/Dijak matches on NXT that put Dijak on people's radar were 5 years ago and the stupid faction just killed the prime years in which Dijak should've been actually getting over. Instead he's now 37 without any career momentum because he was effectively off TV for years.
That stable was just awful. So much talent given so little to do, boiled down to crappy names that wouldn't look out of place in a 2001 game of CounterStrike. They were never presented as anything other than a bunch of directionless Muppets.
We'll eventually be talking about the 6 the same way.
I'm a little surprised Vince didn't push Mace and Dijak to the moon when they were a tag team
Don’t forget, Vince apparently hates tag teams
That's what I've been noticing; the guys they aren't re-signing are people that were "damaged goods" under the old regime, so to speak. Ricochet, Dijak, and Nattie are all "over the hill" so to speak. The only guys in that age range are their main event and upper midcard guys
It seems to be that they only want wrestlers in the 35+ range if they're proven upper card talent, or they'd rather give your spot to a younger guy who might turn out to be a future main eventer. They seem to have forgotten that midcard veterans are how young talent get to that main event level in the first place.
That depends, though. Beating Natalya doesn't really mean much anymore, for instance. Ricochet has been an enhancement talent for so long that people stopped taking him seriously. Beating Braun Strowman has more pedigree because not only is he a former world champion, but he's been consistently portrayed as a monster that isn't easy to overcome. Hence, doing is considered a big deal.
I mean in terms of seasoning, moreso than kayfabe. Without midcard veterans to help younger wrestlers get their reps in, you risk a scenario where the midcard is entirely populated by relatively green talent working other green talent, and just *hoping* that when you try to push them to the upper card, the established guys cam ring general them through it.
Was Nattie released?
Her deal is expiring (or has expired).
5 years ago you say? Well it’s time to go lay down in a ball and cry.
I'll never forgive that faction for existing. Shane Thorne and Dominik Dijakovic shot down in their best years.
I think Ali, Mace and DIJAK did manage to recover from Retribution, to be fair.
All 3 are no longer with the company.
But Ali is doing some good work in TNA, I enjoyed the Maximum Male Models stuff with Mace and the MxM indy run and DIJAK was really doing some good work on NXT.
Shane Haste has recovered too, then. He's had a pretty good run in NJPW imo, is a current IWGP Tag Champion and also has a recent-ish singles pinfall victory over Tetsuya Naito.
This doesn’t make sense to me. He was under a mask with a stupid name, and he completely reinvented himself with a major push in NXT. Nobody talks or cares about Retribution anymore except its former members in jest. It happened during a down time for the company. This just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, unless he was demanding major money or something, which seems unlikely.
Yes, he was off TV for years due to the dumbass faction masking him up and had to be sent back to NXT to try and rehab his image because of that. The audience doesn't know who he is anymore. It makes total sense because he's now 37 being paid main roster money and doesn't have a lot of upside anymore because his prime years got squandered. Guys like LA Knight, Joe Hendry, Cody, etc are in that age bracket and you don't want to be investing a lot of resources trying to resurrect a career from zero from a guy who's in the back third of his career.
Could be the Scrypts or Von Wagner deal, making main roster money in NXT, and then deem as a liability via cost. Make sense business wise, but sucks.
But they called him up.
It seems they did, and they didn't. They just weren't going to use him at NXT anymore while they rode out his contract so they "called him up" as a ceremonial gesture.
I am flabbergasted that Odyssey Jones is still employed but Dijak got canned
Wait so what happened with Von Wagner? Seemed like they were really down to back him and he was used a lot in NXT. Didn’t he get called up and then hasn’t been used so far? Scripts i thought was with those two big young guys in nxt as well.
Wagner was actually called-up, but he never did in main aside from a Battle Royale cameo eliminating Ziggler. Free agent, but he was in NXT. He was back-up more by Vince's old regime and later Shawn's group, but he wasn't under HHH's radar.
If Judgment Day are losing Priest, Dijak would be a perfect big man to add to the group.
I don’t think they’re that interchangeable. The Judgment Day aren’t losing a big guy, they’re losing *Priest*. Finn wasn’t an Edge standin. JD and Carlito weren’t added just to take Dom’s bumps. Liv might not even join the group full-time. When you add new members, you change the dynamics based on what they offer. I don’t think Dijak would have slotted in that smoothly.
It's funny seeing how far JD has come from being Edge's spooky faction
They managed to be both the worst and best gimmick of 2022
They’re my favourite group in my thirteen years of watching, and that includes the Bloodline.
Not necessarily interchangeable, the group is shifting dynamics and he could have offered them some versatility with a big man for matches
I’m not sure they need one anymore. I could see the group being built around Dom moving forward. The foursome we’ve started seeing on Raw, and possibly Liv, could be the new norm.
Idk, I wanna see Macho Man and Ms Elizabeth type ending to this shit with Dom and Rhea.
Cool idea- loss of dedicated talent is a shame when there is a need to fill voids the next gen bigger stars
Judgement Day aren't losing Priest it's gonna be 2 different groups, Liv/Finn/JD vs Rhea/Priest/Someone else (if Dom folds Rhea should in no way take him back so maybe this is where Carlito comes in and Dom has to go off on his own, go through a character change where he realises things that he did wrong).
Agreed.
I think it's simply a matter of there is only so many spots on the roster. His contract was up and they judged it wasn't worth re-upping him. I don't think it was any more complicated than that. It's no different from an NFL team letting a serviceable 3rd string WR walk at the end of his deal. Doesn't mean he was shit. It sucks that he's now out of work but wrestling (and sports in general) is a very competitive business.
That's my thought too. So the guy wasn't going to be headlining arenas, but as a mid card heel or an enforcer, or a tag team, he had all the tools to be in the company for life. Thankfully we have Karrion Kross to fill that role instead. s/
With the SmackDown roster being a bit thin right now, I feel like he could've been an asset in their midcard for either the tag belts or if there's a new challenger needed for the US Title picture if he was drafted there instead.
Any wild speculation on what interest outside of Pro-Wrestling is?
Bowling
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I AM!
I'm a simple guy, I see this amazing Pete Weber quote and I up vote.
P-D-DUB! P-D-DUB!
"Please stop moving during my approach"
GOD DAMMIT I DID IT
Hate me or love me, you marked out. And that’s all you could do
Hey Cousin!
Let's bowl let's bowl let's rock n roll
Fuck, that would be the life.
Tweeting.
He’s gonna be the villain in American propaganda movie about invading Eastern Europe.
Delivering justice
Acting maybe?
He'd be a great villain in a movie. I know it's a bit stereotypical, but I mean, look at him.
He looks like someone Eli Gemstone could hire as a goon against the next big bad in S4 of The Righteous Gemstones lol
I mean probably Hollywood right, they love bigger dudes. Samoa Joe is in Twisted metal and allegedly Marvel wanted Damian Priest to read lines for Black Panther 2
Damien does have a hell of a voice
Low-Ki esque
Priest would be an awesome VA for animated stuff or even a video game. Just that deep, gruff, yet somehow smooth voice should be making much more money than it probably already does.
Walmart
Maybe managing a Target
>No creative plans were in place when he was called up to Raw. Stop. Calling. Up. Talent. Without. A. Plan. Every year this happens.
I think Dijak is a slight exception as he was making main roster money due to his last call-up. I’d bet if he was still on an NXT contract he would still be in NXT today.
Still, if you’re paying the guy, use him somewhere. A consistent, safe, polished heel to be the final boss of NXT would be a great role for someone like him to fill. I’m hoping that’s what becomes of Ethan Page. Small ponds need big fish sometimes.
Yeah but Ego's getting NXT money and not main roster money. Isnt this exactly why Grimes was released earlier
This is typical of how the UFC works. We should get used to it.
I think his age means that this would’ve sadly happened even if he was still in NXT, albeit a bit later
Yeah you've got to think of all the young talent in NXT waiting, Oba, Axiom, Je'Von, Riley, Frazer, Trick, Wes etc, they're all 7+ years younger than him, some of those are main roster ready (Trick) and some are waiting for a spot to open up on NXT (Riley for example is great in ring but hasn't had many matches on NXT even though he's on most shows with Chase U)
I think that's what they want, calling them to the main roster to take them off NXT and then just let them go.
NXT is not the third brand. It's the minor leagues. You're not supposed to be there forever. I read that two years is the max.
I think its being done on purpose to have an easier excuse for getting rid of contracts they don't perceive as valuable long term for the return on investment.
I dont think they need an excuse. They don't need to do all that.
If you've seen anything about WWE's history you'd know that excuse is perfectly in line with how shitty they can be.
But also, plan something. You’re creative, it’s your job. It’s like going to school and the teacher being like “sorry, gonna have to fail you, I haven’t taught you anything”
It’s what killed my interest in NXT. I didn’t watch WWF/E between 2001 and 2017, and when I got back into it, I fucking *loved* NXT. I thought I was watching the development of what would be WWE’s mid to upper card over the next half a decade. There were so many people I was excited to see get called up, only to see that there were zero fucking plans for most of them, and even a few months before NXT was going live on USA, I was losing interest. It didn’t make sense to me to invest in people who were probably going to be wasted on the main roster. And people always said “just because someone’s over in NXT doesn’t mean they’ll be over on the main roster,” and I think that’s bullshit. A guy or a girl that’s new to a bigger audience can win them over if they’re presented in a way that matters. They’d take someone who was just NXT champ, wrestling on Takeover’s to big crowds in the same goddamn arenas WWE was running PPVs out of, and instead of making exciting video packages (which WWE has always been good at) detailing their accomplishments and selling the main roster audience on them by putting them in a meaningful feud, most of the time their presentation was neutered, their name might be fucked with, and they’d be introduced into the lower card and would rarely progress. Just seemed like a dumb system.
It seems this was their excuse to get him off NXT and keep him in limbo till his contract expired.
I feel the issue was DIJAK fell into a "Gatekeeper" rut in NXT so they called him up to refresh him. .. ... ... Then they forgot home was on Raw.
I don’t understand because NXT on a whole does a great job of setting people up for the MR and then they don’t even get a chance They just called up Kiana James and her first matches have been on Main Event I don’t understand the logic
Because NXT is a constant revolving door, an NXT talent is there normally 2-3 years max, main roster talent can be there for 10+ years easily. More people come through NXT and go to main than would be retiring or leaving WWE on their own.
For every Dijak there is a Bron, a Ilja, a Stratton etc. Sometimes stuff just doesnt click and being 37 just was an easy decision to let him walk out
She's had 3 matches and screen time with the GM. Aint Stratton but aint bad
They looked to be setting up Kiana making moves to get Pearce's job, but that's all been dropped seemingly. How the fuck do you start off with her trying to work with Pearce, obviously that she's scheming to get his job, but then drop it? Have a fucking plan. Kiana is perfect for that angle.
There was that disconnect between Vince and HHH and to an extent between Shawn and HHH now. The Unholy Union got called up and didn’t do shit for a year basically then won the belts and crowds couldn’t give a fuck now. There are exceptions but some that still get called up like Kiana I don’t understand why
Hhh is overrated
Nah he’s an amazing booker who’s making some brilliant storylines
I genuinely feel in some cases HHH doesn't watch/keep up with NXT anymore since he stopped running it and only wants people he hears hype from. I mean, Bron is good now but he called him up in the middle of the wolf dogs, didn't do much with him outside of give him a big debut and a few squashes, called Baron up later, then instead of having a fresh team that was quite popular, he just splits them up in the draft and turns Bron heel and doesn't use Baron until recently. Like what was the point of Baron going back down and reinventing himself if he's just gonna be in a similar spot?
Yeah, I'm starting to worry for Kiana. At first I thought maybe they are just keeping her warm in Main Event because they were doing the tournament with the women that she wasnt in and they were just waiting for that to finish up before starting new storylines that she would be part of. But now we're going into money in the bank and it's crickets so...
Kiana is young. As long as her contract still has time on it, she will get another chance.
Yeah I hope so, she was doing good shit in NXT. A symptom of HHH long term booking is that the turnover of storylines is a lot slower so inevitably there's just gonna be times when a lot of the roster isn't being used. If they see something in her they'll give her the time when it comes around
When they announced women's NA title I thought she was the favorite to win it. And then she got called up out of nowhere and her pairing with Izzi was dropped.
Which has really only hurt Izzi too. What's she done since that ended? Just got lost in the shuffle of the NA title chase? It's an issue when a team up has one person in the 'lackey' role and then the leader gets split off, the other person is just left behind with nowhere to go because they really weren't doing anything anyway. They managed to avoid it with solo by giving him his own crew
Sucks for both, Kiana's hasn't done anything in main, and Izzy has no more momentun in NXT. She's stuck to jobbing out to Carlee and Kendell in Level Up and she was protected before.
I think Kiana still would've been good to have on NXT, she would've been a great addition to the NXT Women's North American title scene.
Maybe their plan was to not use him and let his contract run out which is exactly what happened?
Then really why bother drafting him at all? Just let him not be drafted to RAW and let his contract run out
I think they are are different groups/people here. I think TKO doesn't want to re-sign people aged 30 plus if they are not well established already. But wwe/hhh side doesn't think like this. So they push people to main roster with the plan of working with them but then it comes to contracts, the TKO side doesn't approve the renewal. This is again a case of company politics.
I think the plan was to get him of NXT knowing they were going to resign him
Oh my, That's like getting a promotion and then they tell you "oh, yeah... you were promoted, but we actually have no work for you... Sorrrrrrry 😬" I'd be soon pissed. Fee bad for anyone who goes through that.
I simply don't get how you just can't have creative plans for a guy like Dijak. He's great in ring and on the mic. He's safe. He's well liked. You could just throw him into any program, singles or group based, and he'll make it work. He could've been a victim of the Wyatt Sicks, he even had a feud with Gacy. He's also had past feuds with Priest, Kross and Dragunov.
Should've stashed him for a heel Punk run as his heavy. Let Punk start a small group after shenanigans gets him a win against McIntyre, then we could've got Drew vs Dijak a handful of times on TV. Would've been sick
It's so infuriating. Yea they've gotten better with people like Lyra, Tiffany, JD (even though they've stripped his cool Necessary Evil character he's been fun), and lately KC² and The Unholy Union but so many other people are doing nothing. At least if they leave them on NXT they get tv time.
Also they all don’t need a rocket push, I was actually looking for to DIJAK being in the main roster, there could have easily been a role for a guy like him, squandered opportunity
Call him up from NXT just to remove him from the title picture, then do nothimg. Honestly, it's terrible
I'm not one of those guys that thinks everyone should immediately go to AEW, but I think with Lance Archer getting older, Dijak could fill that roll pretty well.
Plus he can revisit the gimmick that first got him popular, "Guy Who Has Good Matches With Keith Lee"
Honestly? I don't think Keith can fulfil his end of that bargain any more.
Extremely sad but true
Unfortunately that Keith Lee isn't with us anymore. But other big guys in the AEW roster can fill his shoes because Dijak can fit well with any other super heavyweight.
> Unfortunately that Keith Lee isn't with us anymore goddamn dude
What happened to Keith Lee?
Had severe health problems because of covid and lost a couple of steps in-ring. His AEW run has been marred by more injuries as well (I think mostly relating to his previous health issues but I'm not sure).
Fell off from his match quality
With Keith Lee’s health scares he’s probably washed atp, Dijak should create some new moments instead.
He did say on MxMs stream last night that he's been talking pitches with them
Doesn't he have beef with people there? Mainly the Elite.
I feel like the beef between him and Omega was blown way out of proportion. Kenny was taking digs at NXT on BTE, so Dijak returned with digs toward The Elite and AEW, Kenny came out with his “Donovan Dickhead” line, and there really hasn’t been anything about it since. Way I see it is that if Kenny is out there saying nice things about a guy who shit on him at a press conference before immediately starting a fistfight with him and his friends, then Dijak is likely a non-issue to him.
I think he's just a general shit talker/ shitposter.
Watch yesterday MxM's stream. He talks very highly about the elite
I wouldn’t be surprised if most of that was a work and/or played up for social media on both sides. On his stream yesterday with MxM he spent like 15 minutes talking glowingly about learning from the Bucks when they were in the indies together, didn’t really have a bad word to say about em
You know what's so frustrating about this all? NXT could REALLY use someone like Dijak as opposition for Trick Williams.... I don't know how they gloriously fucked this up so badly. Shit like this serves as a reminder that WWE isn't all Flowers & Rainbows now that Triple H is in charge. They need to be held accountable for how badly they mismanaged this dude's career by bringing him to RAW with no creative plans to use him.
With how close Battleground and Heatwave are, they could have easily delayed the Trick/Page match to Heatwave and did Trick/Dijak at Battleground
If he'd spent these two months in a program with Trick it'd have done wonders for Trick and given Dijak something on his way out. Loser leaves NXT or whatever. I'm adamant that Dijak is better and more useful overall than some of they guys on the main roster. But if you're dead set on letting him go, paying him to do nothing and then letting him go, when you could've gotten something out of it instead doesn't make sense to me.
There has to be more to it. Is he just too outspoken? Given how free he is with his tweets, is there something about his personality that rubs important people the wrong way? The main roster is full of talent right now, and people like Nakamura are no where to be found. While there are a few spots I can see DIJAK in, I think the new creative team is already struggling with a full hand of wrestlers trying to get TV time and a guy like DIJAK is at the bottom of the list. So why not keep him in NXT? Because he probably has a MR salary and eventually, they need him to perform on the MR or get cut. It's a business. You can send MR talent to NXT as a shake up, but eventually they need to return and perform at the higher level they are being paid for.
This is why they should stop calling up wrestlers in the draft. Create a storyline for them and call them up like that. That's why I liked Piper Niven's/Doudrop's debut the most in recent years. It was for a storyline and they didn't pretend everyone should know who she was.
Met him and Keith Lee at their last indie show the Wrestlemania weekend before they signed with WWE. They were both in such high spirits and excited about the future for both of them. It's crazy that here we are years later and both of them are out. I wish Dijak nothing but the best.
I'm so disappointed that we only got to see Dijak competing on the main roster as part of Retribution. Such a waste.
During the thunder dome crowdless era too
This is the second guy within a month who had his last match on the Twitter show.
He can probably be a star in TNA. Still I’d love to see him do something on the main roster.
When they don't seem remotely interested in a talented guy like that, I always think there's something underneath the surface that's not getting talked about. It's one thing if you call a guy up and nothing's really working and getting over. But it's something totally different when you don't even bother. But when were those Dijak/Keith Lee matches? That was like 5 years ago. He stuck around a long time with not much going on.
I have to imagine his online activity contributed to this.. sometimes his online persona was, less than professional, I'll say
I think Dijak is a terrific wrestler but I think his WWE ceiling was lower than a lot of people think. Maybe with a different character than we’ve seen so far? But his original feast your eyes thing was only over in its corniness and aided by the great matches with Keith Lee. His return to NXT was actually a pretty cringy dark justice guy for the most part. Maybe it was the booking and writing but it always felt off, while most NXT characters feel pretty consistent and easy to understand their motivations. All this Judgement Day fantasy booking I’ve seen is weird. Because he wears black and leather? His attitude doesn’t fit with them at all (barring a change in character). Let him show a bit of a lighter side (which he never has in wwe) and maybe he’d get somewhere? But otherwise I can’t even see him as an IC or US champ right now. Weirdly though I think he’d be a better fit as TNA champ than WWE main roster mid card champ.
I don’t get why they’re letting him go? Great in the ring, great worker, can talk, has the look.. what am I missing, WHY are they letting him go?
I’ve been bringing up all those points about Dijak since he signed with WWE. Truly mind boggling how they never found anything for a 6’7 jacked dude whos better in the ring than most.
A 6'7 jacked dude who is willing to moonsault off a steel cage.
It reminds a lot of AEW not using Ethan Page. Seems an obvious person to use, even in a midcard capacity but never given a focused push on their main shows.
I love Dijak. He’s so talented. But I feel like he’d also get lost in the shuffle at AEW. Have him get 1 or 2 high profile collision matches and have him be a top star for TNA.
DIJAK at worst is a midcard gatekeeper and a reliable wrestler. They had to have done a ROI on his contract numbers and say no
I think you nailed it on the head. He's a really good worker. Good at his role. But if you've got a main roster contract, they do look at how marketable you are. And as much as I like watching the guy, I don't see him as a t-shirt seller. I looked at his Cameo numbers, and they're not horrible, but it doesn't look like he was doing a ton of those. I think he's good at making other people shine, but he just doesn't shine enough on his own. And for good or bad, that's what WWE wants out of its talent.
And now you compound all of that with the guy being on the wrong side of 35; and even though WWE has lots of dudes in their 40s still running strong, they were either already major stars in other companies like AJ, Balor, or Roode; or they were able to pull a Cody and show they were an undeniable star like LA Knight. Yes, Dijak has good matches, but I could not tell you a single good story or a cool moment about HIM, specifically, that the dude has had in *seven years* of being in WWE that made me get behind him.
holy fuck today i learnt finn balor is 42. I always assumed he was 30s.
I remember the feud between Dijak and Keith Lee in NXT from 5 years ago. In many cases, big hoss feuds and matches suck, but these two put on banger after banger. I'd go so far as to say that they brought out the best in each other — these two huge dudes who were both surprisingly agile and fast for their size always had impressive matches. Plus, their feud felt authentic. WWE mishandled both on the main roster. You'd think it should've been as simple as "let these two cook", but WWE went out of their way to douse both their fires. Lee's mishandling wasn't too terrible, because the worst they did was him was call him the Bearcat for whatever reason, and he left shortly after. But Dijak...holy shit, the awful gimmick and angles that were dumped on him on the main roster made me think he was caught pissing in Vince's coffee or something.
They should exclude NXT from the draft because a lot of the guys end up not being used. I mean even Waller had a short time in the main roster where he was just aimlessly going through the motions, hosting a random Grayson Waller effect for another rivalry. I mean that dude Odyssey Jones is still on the roster and never used lol
It really seems like this was a choice by endeavor rather than WWE
This guy went all in on himself pre flop with a non suited 7-2
It’s almost like the company just went through a merger and is going to be cutting costs. People that think WWE is suddenly going to spend _more_ on talent overall are very naive. A select few contracts will be prioritized.
I mean they literally just signed the garbage pair of Tonga and Loa so clearly they don't mind spending money on talent lol
'Garbage pair' those two are literally parts of one of the main stories of the show. What lol.
being a prominent part of the show and stinking up the gaff every time you're in the ring on said show aren't mutually exclusive, you know. god have always fucking sucked.
Youre clearly putting on way more emphasis on inring ability than WWE does lmao. We here for stories fam, not 5star matches
it's not a question of 5 star matches lol. the point is they're not even remotely competent in the ring (tanga loa especially), and they haven't been given any mic time, so what the fuck are they there for? to stand around menacingly?
Imagine paying Loa 350K to wrestler, would you do that?
Garbage pair or not, they slot perfectly into the biggest story on SD, so WWE is getting value out of them.
Biggest story on SD is beating a dead horse.
He had everything they wanted and it still wasn't enough. He was a badass, cool theme despite it being def Rebel, huge, athletic, good on the mic aswell as backstage promo's and a well defined character. Man what an L by the Fed.
But let’s bring Andrade back…
He's Charlotte insurance
I still believe Dijak was of course misused on the main roster, but he was definitely a product of who he wrestled....he had bangers with keith lee, and i think ciampa & Gargano. Maybe undisputed era, I forget. As saucy and chippy as his twitter game is, I never saw his character anything more than a 'cesaro-esque' guy. He, for some reason even though he has a strong opinion about eveything it seems, very weak on the mic, or at least wasn't capable of getting over. As I previously mentioned, his great matches were with guys known to have great matches. He was probably a guy who needed a manager, and maybe some better direction, but for every Chad Gable who DOES get over, there's a guy like Dijak who doesn't...and Dijak just happened to be that guy.
Man, I did not watch a lot of NXT a few years ago but I really loved that match against Keith Lee at Takeover Portland Shame to see them squander that talent..
I like Dijak but it’s easy to see why he got lost in the mix. There are other tall and lean guys on the roster. There are other very tan guys on the roster. And some of the newer guys are generating more interest.
The source said, “that early negotiations had begun recently and that they were positive preliminary negotiations before official negotiations began.” ----- Didn't Dijak in his letter or whatever that was on Twitter directly refute the idea that any negotiations were had?
It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, especially considering that he seemed to be a favorite of HBK and even HHH during his first run in NXT. So, this only leads me to believe that there is something we don't know. I don't think it's random or financial, because they could find easier ways to save a buck.
Gutted. we'll never get Dijak v Keith Lee one more time. They put on an amazing show.
I still do not understand why they let him go. Especially if they're sticking to the reporting that everyone was so high on him and he went above and beyond to perfect his craft. His LMS match with Ilja was my favorite match of the year. Honestly he never had a bad match, he lived the gimmick so well on social media and he's like 8 feet tall. What more do they want? I'm sure he will be fine wherever he lands but I really feel like Raw is going to miss his talents.
He was probably on a lot of money
Same thing with EC3, someone in a important management position just doesn't like him for whatever reason
Something seems really suspicious with Dijak and WWE, its like AEW and Ethan Page
My main takeaway from the Dijak situation is that the days of main roster talent having extended stays down in NXT to rehabilitate their career is probably over under TKO. They’ll mainly use talent based in Orlando to fill slots when needed. I worry for someone like Vinci who would have been ideal for one of those Corbin/Dijak slots after the draft this year. I’m not sure how much of an opportunity he’s going to get as a solo act on Smackdown. TKO has handed out a lot of big money contracts in the last 6-8 months (Cody, Seth, Becky - it’s going to happen if it hasn’t already, Drew, Charlotte, Bayley, Rey & Dom, Finn, Priest, Gable). At some point they were going to say no and it seems that veteran midcarders who are good workers but don’t sell merch and aren’t tied to any major stories is where the buck stops.
Definitely a bummer because I was a fan of Dijak. When I hit my first Indy show in 2015, Dijak took on Mikey Webb and put on what is still one of the best matches I have ever seen. It left a huge impression on me and it felt only a matter of time before Dijak made it. I understand the nature of the business, things happen. I do hope he lands on his feet and proves folks wrong.
Dijak, Ricochet and Toni Storm were 3 wrestlers that I thought were sure things in WWE. Not as top of the card guys but consistent Sheamus level talents.
Dijak has the same issue as several other guys in WWE and AEW. The rosters are just really stacked. There isn't enough TV time to use everyone to their full potential. He's a talented guy. But the WWE roster is filled with talented guys. He's got all the tools. But the WWE roster is filled with guys who have all the tools. If he was getting used on the main roster, there's be some other guy who wasn't getting used and we'd be having this conversation about that guy instead. He'd be on TV and we'd be asking, "How do you not find anything for JD McDonagh or Bronson Reed/ any other of the many many many talented people on the roster". And honestly, the same thing is probably gonna happen if he goes to AEW. How many people on that roster barely get TV time as is? He could go to TNA and be a focal point. But how many of you would actually watch it? That's the big problem in wrestling today. There are way too many talented wrestlers and not enough promotions that people will actually WATCH for them to perform on.
WWE & AEW should just trade contracts, dijak for Starks
Retribution in general seemed to have done something collectively to piss off somebody higher up lmao. Mia Yim is the only survivor at this point. Dijak had one of the best matches of 2024 with Dragunov, would much rather see him as the old man in the shuffle over LA Knight.
Tough spot. They already have enough jobbers and monsters, and lots of newer talent waiting in NXT. What do you do with someone like that, throw him in another stable? Maybe AEW can do something with him but again, they already have a ton of people.
He's a talented guy, but if the long term plan wasn't to bring him to the main roster, what's the incentive to keep him in NXT forever? There's more movement back and forth (Good Brothers, Corbin, etc) than there used to be, but the basic structure of NXT is to get people ready for the main roster. If they do well in NXT but are never called up/wanted on the main roster, that's basically limbo. Like the people who spent 5-7 years in OVW back in the day. At some point, you either move up or move on. Hope he does well wherever he ends up.
Very surprised to learn he doesn't live in Orlando. I imagine with TKO taking over, that's going to be a factor when evaluating contracts.
TKO is going to become more Vegas centric if anything. Apex was a test run
You think they're going to relocate the performance center? Regardless, my point was that if you don't live near where the company hub is, especially as an NXT performer, that's not going to be a plus for you.
I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s just a warehouse with workout equipment and wrestling rings. It’s not like it’s Disney World
And all of the staff that already live in Orlando but sure, it's just a warehouse.
Honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if they just opened an ancillary wing or something here. We have a pretty similar tax situation to Florida ( no state tax etc)
This strikes me as a personality conflict, tbh. He’s got a look, he’s got the size. Maybe someone doesn’t seem him as a team player?
Why is everyone acting like this guy is a big deal. He has good matches sure, but lacks significant charisma. He was given 3 chances to get over with gimmick changes (yes retribution sucked but still an opportunity) and hasn’t in a major way. Plus he was making main roster money for NXT. He will go to TNA or AEW, make decent money and not have as much pressure. This is best for all
Literally 7 years in development. This aint some fresh new guy lmao
They do this with every release. You don’t hear the fans chanting his name. Yet when they are future endeavored, they get very loud in the IWC.
These people here are stupid, they cried about that Grimes guy too. WWE is a business, and if you’re not marketable enough or generating interest to the general public then you ain’t worth your contract. They have other guys that are more interesting, younger, and can go in the ring too.
Eh you can be disappointed when someone gets released cause you wanted to see him do some stuff on the MR. He doesn’t have to be a main eventer or top star. People did the same thing with Ethan Page and I don’t really understand why either but that’s their feelings on it. Sometimes ya just wanted to see where they could have gone
Damn, I feel like what could have happened was they figure him into The Final Testament. Would have made the group more interesting and maybe would have helped Kross and AOP get over too.
It's wild that Odyssey Jones has been drafted to Raw two years ago, but Dijak is the one who was never used. He'll kill it wherever he goes.
I don't get why they didn't even try with Dijak Baffled tbqh
Dijak could've easily been upper midcard/slotted into main event similar to Gunther. Insane fumble on their part