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NXT contracts when called up get converted to main-roster ones. They didn’t want to to pay him main roster money to be an NXT talent. They called up or released all such talent pretty much.
He had already been on the MR back in 2020. Haven’t heard anything about people like him or Finn getting knocked back down contractually when they went back to NXT
That’s the point. Dijak was still making main roster money during his entire NXT time. In small spurts not a big deal for main roster talent to go to NXT but from their perspective it’s a poor investment keeping them there.
HHH really loves Kross, so it honestly could just be HHH wasn't a huge Dijak fan even though Shawn was. Or it could be a higher ups situation with TKO where they didn't want to pick up his salary
Kross is so ass. The crowd, no matter how loud they were before hand is always dead silent for anything kross does. It’s a shame AOP returned and had to immediately be tied to him.
But why call him up if that's all you gonna do? Just release him or let him sit and not renew. Or god forbid, use him as an asset when you running out the clock.
I posted this same sentiment elsewhere on this thread. To add to this: "NXT could have still booked him during this time and he could have put someone over on the way out, a la Ricochet. Being the person to put a monster like Dijak on the shelf would have been big for someone."
Yeah that’s his role. He’s basically Titus O’Neill without being retired and is an ambassador for Wwe. Makes sense knowing his college football background which makes it easier for prospective athletes to identify with him
for a while, he was getting featured a lot, then he got injured, then he hung around the nxt midcard, then he got drafted to the main roster and here we are
I forgot he still worked there. Well, to be honest, I barely knew he was in NXT to begin with. So when he got called up, I just knew he existed basically.
it's crazy. I feel like he really upped his overall game in NXT.
And it's not like he needs to win 24/7, in NXT he got over based on his performances and being a monster that people overcome. Like imagine him being vs Sheamus, Gunther, Chad, Sami etc
Saw it a few times in NXT when Priest was going by Punishment Martinez*. They had a very good feud, and it was evenly matched. I'd always expected him to be pushed as well as Priest, but it just never happened, and I have no idea why. Not the first guy who didn't get a fair shake and not the last guy either. Hope he gets a better chance wherever he lands next.
* Correction - this was his name in RoH, not in NXT.
His matches with pre-illness Keith Lee in NXT instantly sold me on the guy. I mean pre-covid Keith Lee was a freaking amazing deal with the way he could move with his size but Dijak hung right there with him and had insane big hoss matches.
And then, the goofy shit starts lol. Idk, taking a guy like Dijak and not being able to "get him over" shows problems with the system more than the individual in my opinion.
And if everything he wrote is true, he may just be first to feel a new cost cutting initiative post-merger. I would suspect more of these deals coming.
Lee-Dijak at Takeover Portland is one of the best I've had the pleasure of seeing live
I would love if it's at all possible to run it back one more time, but unfortunately I'm not sure it is
Except HHH has kept him around on NXT forever. Seems odd, unless they just felt he hit his ceiling in the company. Just a shame he spent so many years of his career there.
And I would've commented on that post with "I've been patiently waiting for him to show up and kick sone ass ever since the draft." If parallel universes are real then there's definitely one where Dijak has Priest's career.
It makes me wonder, why call him up to begin with? If the main roster booking wasn't high on him or the plan was to let his contract expire, wouldn't it make more sense to leave him in NXT for the duration? Worst case, NXT could have still booked him during this time and he could have put someone over on the way out, a la Ricochet. Being the person to put a monster like Dijak on the shelf would have been big for someone.
I think it's more likely there was confusion, miscommunication, and a lack of organization and the old "no plan" in this situation rather than that
As the other person said it's not like he was getting jobbed out he wasn't on tv at all
So they don't waste two months of NXT giving him an exit feud. It's cold as fuck but you can see the logic.
Good luck to him, not sure he won't get lost in the shuffle in AEW too sadly but he deserves a chance to really have a go. Proper talent.
He really should have been the one to take the title off Trick. In that same vein, I kinda wish they had left Kiana on NXT long enough for her to get a title run. She's not really doing that much on the main roster and they seemed to have dropped the angle of her helping Adam.
If trick retains at heatwave, he is out of opponents mainly heels to feud with unless they bring someone down from the main roster and if that's the case they could've just kept dijak in nxt
Fuck it, bring Cedric and Vinci down. It's not like Cedric is doing anything on SmackDown anyways. And Giovanni Vinci *hasn't had a match* since he was drafted to SmackDown
Those first few sentences seem to imply that all those updates about contract negotiations over the past couple months were just sources (either from Dijak or WWE) blowing smoke.
All updates about anything (not just limited to wrestling) are just sources blowing smoke, from one side or the other.
You just have to figure out which side is the one putting it out and read between the lines, that's modern media literacy.
Man, Dijak and Keith Lee were tearing the indies up back in 2017 and I assumed he was going to have a huge break in WWE. Can't believe that was seven years ago.
I saw Dijak at a few ROH shows back in that era and he was always really good. Crowd was into him, and he could go for a big guy. Hope he finds something in another company.
I wouldn't be surprised if budget cuts are coming from the TKO side of things. Like that wrestler said yesterday about getting cut from wwe, " we are family is bullshit "
The one major thing i expected to be much better with HHH taking over from Vince was the logic behind NXT callups (some hits some misses still)
But to callup a guy who was on fire in NXT to do nothing with him and then not even negotiate a contract or communicate with them when he wanted to stay is crazy
What hbk does better than HHH is he'll make sure everyone gets a chance to do something
Lexis king may not have a main event ceiling but he gets stuff to do
NXT has an advantage over other shows in that they get to cycle their roster, once someones reached the top of mountain in NXT they either have a major heel turn (think Roxanne, Bronn, and Melo) or go to the main roster (Think Dragunov) . They don’t linger.
Raw, Smackdown, Dynamite all have to manage heating different people up, cooling others off, etc while in NXT you get to bring in new people (obviously this could suck if the main roster is taking people before your done with them, so it’s not easy but I think booking NXT is a fun challenge like a rebuilding team in sports)
It's annoying because until Rollins recently returned, raw was lacking in star power and I thought they could make up for it with a really strong mid card with guys like dijak and ricochet in the mix
Hate to single someone out but Kross is on his like 5th push attempt and dijak didn't even get a chance
Really not sure what they see with Kross in his current form honestly. The guy clearly has some potential, no doubt, but hanging around with the Authors of Pain isn't helping any of them.
It's ridiculously easy to book 1-2 years, it's why every new promotion/booker is hot as hell at the start.
When most of your talent just leave within 1-2 years, like NXT is structured, you basically get that effect all of the time because you don't ever have to worry about the future. You can just give every talent you actually care about a similar "book strong until they leave and put someone over on the way out."
One of the things lost when the territories died and wrestling become nationally televised. Talent don't have the same options to go elsewhere for a while, then come back fresh. Same reason unbeatable monsters don't work as well. Back in the day, a monster could tear through a territory, lose to the champ, go somewhere else and repeat.
I mean you kinda get that effect with part timers. Show up, wreck shit, win the title, lose to a hot Babyface and disappear for 6 months is nearly exactly how Brock has been booked for the past 10 years lmao.
NXT is less "star dependent" than the main roster shows. They're in front on an audience, both live and TV, that's there to watch NXT, not "brought the kids so they could go "WOAH" to cody" or whatever and aren't as tied to hitting rating metrics and goals. It's just FAR more flexible because it's a lower performing show bolstered by the big ones. (same reason it can devote so much time to women when other shows can't)
Since Vince was on top for so long there’s this misconception that booking is simple, logical, easy, all the things Vince wasn’t.
But no matter how hard the booker tries to be objective, their own bias is going to influence decisions. Tony, Trips, HBK, Billy fucking Corgan, whoever.
The thing that's baffling about WWE is that they have a system that no other promotion really have: two strong bookers under the same roof doing different shows. Shawn Michaels and Triple H both look at talent differently and both have different strengths as bookers.
Triple H may not have seen something in Cameron Grimes or Dijak, but if you called them up, why not do what HBK did with them on NXT and see if it gets over in front of a wider audience. It's much better than letting them wander around aimlessly before firing them.
With HHH it's a bit baffling because many of these people that are suddenly treated like nobodies had a clearly developed role during the time HHH was booking NXT.
Cameron Grimes is another example.
I just don't understand how you cannot find a spot for someone like Dijak, especially since you know him very well. I am unironically convinced he belongs with the very best.
I think people need to lower their expectations and realize not every single wrestler is gonna reach the mountain top. Especially when you have a main event scene filled with Rhodes, Rollins, Punk, McIntyre, Orton, Judgment Day, Gunther, The Bloodline, Sami, KO, AJ and so many others. I would assume a bookers job is not make use of everybody they have but to feature the talents that draw in the most people, and to establish a division of rising stars. Unfortunately both the main event and mid card divisions are full. Why hang on to a guy if you're not gonna use him? Also this seems like a more ethical approach than just releasing him.
You mean to tell me there’s NO ROOM for a fairly young, dynamic, consistent, 6’7 heavyweight that can put on classic matches against a multitude of talent in the tag team division? In the lower-mid card division, to build him up? As the muscle for someone? Come on now.
They have 2 major shows, each with their own tag champions, each with their own mid card, each with their own main event scene.
Maybe not every guy needs to make it to the mountain top but there is a lower card for a reason, and the card structure is a development system in and of itself. Push guys on the lower roster, move them up to mid-card. move them up to intercontinental/US title, move them up to main event, then finally to a championship run - assuming they are successful on all those fronts. To ***NOT EVEN TRY*** is crazy.
My conspiracy theory is they didn't WANT to do anything with him. They called him up from NXT in order to free up an upper midcard spot on NXT for someone they wanted more of a future with. Dijak being called up had nothing to do with him, it was about others they want to put in his spot in NXT
I don't think communication is TKO's/the current regime's strong suit.
I thought this whole "Punk didn't agree to return until the day of" or "_____'s contract is expiring in 3 hours" thing was a bit, and maybe it is, but then I hear Undertaker talk about how he didn't even know he was going to be in the Mania main event until the show was underway and he was already drinking in his viewing booth... Maybe they just operate like that, which seems insane.
At the end of the day it’s never gonna be a perfect system it’s definitely has improved since HHH has taken over but they’re still gonna be people who had fantastic run in NXT and will be dropped on the main roster.
I didn't follow him that closely but it seems like he has great work ethics and a lot of charisma. I also understand why WWE released him though, they just have way too much great upcoming talent in NXT and MR is bottlenecked af. It's a shame but at least he gets to prove WWE wrong and I hope he turns it into motivation.
I’ll never understand not doing something with him. Imo dude has it all. Hope he finds success and gainful employment which given his talents I’m sure he will
Also pretty wild they were never negotiating and WWE never even made an offer. Why bother calling him up in the draft? Makes no sense
Feels quite apparent that the way WWE is structured now, people pulling the strings financially with contracts and those doing the booking aren’t the same people, and might not even be sharing all that much with each other.
Yeah the two craziest examples are Malakai Black re debuting on smackdown, attacking Big E while he was IC champ and being fired days later and Drake Maverick being fired while being in a tournament in NXT. Clearly the people who do the firings don’t even talk to the people booking stories cause shit like that wouldn’t happen otherwise
Edit: I know these were pre TKO but my point is the company has done this for a long time
I don't think TKO cares about the minute details, They'll just look at the contracts and see they've been paying this guy in NXT the same they pay for Raw and SD and then put a pin in that. Which in many ways I do understand because if you are saying NXT is developmental then how did this guy get called up, Do nothing for years, and then get sent back down? From their point of view Dijak failed. Which sucks cause he's awesome and should have been used better for years.
WWE knew they weren't going to re-sign him. Probably moved him to RAW to kill any current story lines he had, and in case of some injury, to just slot him in quick. Then as the 11th hour came about, he stopped putting his body on the line since no contract was coming
His current Terminator/bad ass gimmick is great, but I think there's too much backstage attacks/brawling angles to fit Dijak into. I agree that it's weird that he was even called up when he was thriving in NXT
Bron Breakker, The Bloodline, Final Testament, and Wyatt Sicks are all causing backstage chaos, having Dijak in the mix would just be redundant and not as impactful.
I feel so bad that he was called up to RAW...everyone was so excited, and then weeks passed without him being on the show and it just felt wrong.
Really sucks he's leaving because he would've killed it on RAW. Feels almost impossible to fumble someone like Dijak. At least it's easy to tell he's gonna do great on the indies!
I’ve been saying it for years now, but the fact that WWE couldn’t figure out what to do with a 6’7 hoss who can go better than the vast majority of wrestlers in the ring is just fucking mind boggling.
They have like 50 guys on their developmental roster, most of whom will be ready to be on the main roster in the next year or two. I honestly don’t know how you bring up that many people in such a short amount of time. It’s obvious tons of people are about to be lost in the shuffle. We’re already seeing that with people like Blair Davenport and Corbin.
It's definitely true that WWE is overloaded on talent, but they're paying the salaries of 5 people to support Karrion Kross failing to get over. You'd have to think Dijak would be a cheaper and better option (not saying they are directly comparable, but there are a handful of people on the roster that are way less over and skilled than Dijak).
This is a damn fucking shame, I really loved DIJAK's work as a trolling asshole that also happened to be an absolute giant, at least he went out with a bang in that epic kaiju fight triple threat match with Oba and Briggs.
Also, I'm manifesting that he shows up at DPW!
WWE failed DIJAK, and I mean that 100%. 1000%.
Before he was T-Bar, the dude was a masterpiece of a man wrestling amazing matches in NXT. His match with Keith Lee was one of the best feuds that year. Then he got called up and put in a terrible stable and had everything that made him work taken away. WWE failed to make him matter as T-Bar. Dude still is positive and goes back down to NXT. Gets jacked. Does his new gimmick as DIJAK. Puts on an amazing performance. Then, he gets called up again just to do nothing with him.
DIJAK will be a top dude somewhere but it won't be with WWE. Can't wait to see what my guy does next!
Mansoor and Mason Madden have been telling Dijak for a while on Twitch that he would greatly benefit from working outside of WWE right more than ever because he's a complete package as a talent compared to when he signed to WWE, I agree with him. It sucks that he won't be in WWE because his presence screamed main roster. He'll do just fine. DPW, NJPW, TNA, AEW, all of them should book him.
That’s really disappointing. He’s talented in all aspects of wrestling imo, and there’s no way he doesn’t get at least offers from those promotions he tagged on this post as soon as they’re able to (he tagged AEW, TNA & NJPW).
I was very excited for the callup, would’ve loved to see him get a match against Sheamus or Gunther, but for whatever reason they just never saw the potential with him, sucks that they missed out. Ready to Feast my Eyes ASAP.
I see the appeal with Kross form a production standpoint, but once the bell rings, I'm not real impressed. If we could combine Kross' look/build and Dijak's skill and personality, we'd have a complete superstar.
There are a few of guys in wrestling who can carry themselves all on character work and in ring promos, with serviceable in ring ability. Kross is not one of them. He’s not exciting enough of a character or interesting enough as a promo to justify just how lackluster he is in ring.
Yep even with seemingly his biggest supporter HHH giving him chance after chance or refresh after refresh Kross is just not clicking with fans. Dare I say Vince was probably right about Kross (though it doesn’t justify the gimp mask thing)
AOP too feel nearer to the Tegan Nox/Emma end of the spectrum when it comes to rehires.
it's a surprising one. had the size. had the skill.
seemed like he could do character work but didn't get a lot of chance.
but neither Vince or HHH want to use him?
I mean there's A LOT of talent on the main roster rn and there's still other people to come back. It's gonna be pretty tough to find a spot, hell Andrade barely has a spot
It's honestly a stacked roster, and they have people returning. It's a tough place to be in. Maybe from WWE's POV, they think Dijak can be a bigger star in a company that's less crowded at the top. They might just not be willing to pay what he's worth compared to where they can fit him. I'm just speculating of course, but it still bums me out as a Dijak fan.
Absolute shame. He truly killed is in NXT and exceeded all expectations. It sucks WWE couldn't do anything with that, but he's going to keep killing it wherever he goes next
It’s so stupid from WWE side
Now I get why they just drafted him via twitter (Just to stop having him on NXT), but I never understood why they never trusted him in the first place?
Without Ilja/Hayes/Breakker he was imo the best talent remaining in NXT, it made no sense to not wanting him on the NXT roster at least fighting Trick
Dijak is really good, he will be a great addition wherever he goes (maybe not AEW as they are also too stacked atm)
Absolutely sucks to see that they did nothing with him even after calling him up. He was doing amazing work in NXT especially that feud he had with Dragunov
I don’t think it’s understood that main roster talent (with a starting salary of $350k) are still making that salary even if they are in NXT full time. Scrypts and Gulak were released. Corbin and Dijak were called up. I believe the only person left in NXT on a main roster salary is Ridge Holland.
My guess is he was drafted back to Raw in an effort to justify his contract. But TKO has been handing out a lot of big money contracts lately and that well was unfortunately going to run out at some point.
Always been a big fan of Dijak, even if I actively stay away from WWE alot these days Dijak is one of the few guys i'll watch a high level match for.
Him vs Ilja last year at Battlegrounds Last Man Standing match was the match of the weekend.
I've long been a fan, and I really especially loved his 80s action movie gimmick in NXT.
That's just brutal that they'd talk out of both sides of their mouth to him. Whatever comes next, I'll be looking forward to it.
Unreal they couldn't find anything for Dijak, the man was good to great at pretty much of every aspect if the business. His matches with Kieth Lee in NXT are some modern classic big man matches. He ca talk, he can play a character well, and he sure as hell can wrestle.
Gotta reckon MxM weren't spamming those "LEAVE!" videos at him without knowledge of the situation from Dijak's perspective according to this "letter," then.
EDIT: [Speak of the devils, Dijak will be on stream for a Q&A with them tonight around 8 PM EST.](https://x.com/DijakWWE/status/1806367774744227906)
its kind of shocking. especially under Vince. Dijak is a guy who could "turn heads in the airport". He has everything you want in a pro wrestler. Also proven he could be over with the right push.
This is definitely a guy who AEW would benefit from having.
He just doesn't have a great look in my opinion. Long armed big man, comes off as awkward looking and the shades and grimace just felt cringe. He looks like a dad on the school run.
Honestly, good for him. If you don't get appreciated enough then you have to leave. Also I feel like this will be like a Drew McIntyre situation where he will crush it somewhere else and get a big offer from WWE in some years.
I get not coming to terms but not even getting an OFFER of renewal? If I were Dijak I'd find that incredibly insulting. Especially since the guy managed to MacGuyver any kind of hype around himself with the scraps he had to work with. Unbelievable.
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He was drafted back up to the main roster and they just decided not to renew his deal….?
To get him off NXT also, I guess.
Which feels extra scummy. They put the rug under him, just to pull it out for no fucking reason.
NXT contracts when called up get converted to main-roster ones. They didn’t want to to pay him main roster money to be an NXT talent. They called up or released all such talent pretty much.
He had already been on the MR back in 2020. Haven’t heard anything about people like him or Finn getting knocked back down contractually when they went back to NXT
That’s the point. Dijak was still making main roster money during his entire NXT time. In small spurts not a big deal for main roster talent to go to NXT but from their perspective it’s a poor investment keeping them there.
Definitely a poor investment I’m just shocked they couldn’t find anything for him to do on the MR. Imo he’s got more upside than Kross
HHH really loves Kross, so it honestly could just be HHH wasn't a huge Dijak fan even though Shawn was. Or it could be a higher ups situation with TKO where they didn't want to pick up his salary
Kross is so ass. The crowd, no matter how loud they were before hand is always dead silent for anything kross does. It’s a shame AOP returned and had to immediately be tied to him.
Unfortunately it was over for him after Von Wagner Billy Gunn'd him with "take thos stupid sunglasses off, we're inside". Absolutely buried
> He had already been on the MR back in 2020 Pretty sure its been confirmed that was T-Bar actually, not Dijak
But why call him up if that's all you gonna do? Just release him or let him sit and not renew. Or god forbid, use him as an asset when you running out the clock.
I posted this same sentiment elsewhere on this thread. To add to this: "NXT could have still booked him during this time and he could have put someone over on the way out, a la Ricochet. Being the person to put a monster like Dijak on the shelf would have been big for someone."
This way they don’t have to worry about giving him a story to write him off tv. I don’t remember but I think he was drafted off camera.
i don't know what's worse, this or cutting Mustafa Ali when he had a NXT NA title match booked lol
Not even just booked, if memory serves he was cut either the day of or day before the match. They subbed in Dragon Lee
Is Odyssey Jones still under contract lmao
Odyssey Jones lives another day with that wwe minimum contract...
He must have all executives blocked on his phone. He learned from JTG.
JTG learned from the best, Funaki.
Indeed!
I heard somewhere that they use Odyssey in NiL recruiting at colleges?
Yeah he's an ever-present on the campus visits they do
Yeah that’s his role. He’s basically Titus O’Neill without being retired and is an ambassador for Wwe. Makes sense knowing his college football background which makes it easier for prospective athletes to identify with him
I'm starting to think he has some juicy gossip they don't want getting out
I haven't followed NXT in a while so I'm just imagining Tazz making fun of some Greek sailor or something
Was this guy good on NXT? I have no clue who he is, I've only heard his name
for a while, he was getting featured a lot, then he got injured, then he hung around the nxt midcard, then he got drafted to the main roster and here we are
Odyssey - did nothing of note on nxt, showed some potential as a big man but got injured & lost in the shuffle on return
I forgot he still worked there. Well, to be honest, I barely knew he was in NXT to begin with. So when he got called up, I just knew he existed basically.
Damn, that’s brutal. Felt like Dijak was finally coming into his own a few months ago.
it's crazy. I feel like he really upped his overall game in NXT. And it's not like he needs to win 24/7, in NXT he got over based on his performances and being a monster that people overcome. Like imagine him being vs Sheamus, Gunther, Chad, Sami etc
Dijak vs Damien Priest was low key a match I really wanted to see.
I just did a quick google search and I'm pretty surprised this never happened one on one in ROH
[Best I can do is T-BAR vs Priest](https://youtu.be/QH4unDCRWRU?si=SCv8NBpgT4j14v4r)
What about T-Bar vs Mace
Saw it a few times in NXT when Priest was going by Punishment Martinez*. They had a very good feud, and it was evenly matched. I'd always expected him to be pushed as well as Priest, but it just never happened, and I have no idea why. Not the first guy who didn't get a fair shake and not the last guy either. Hope he gets a better chance wherever he lands next. * Correction - this was his name in RoH, not in NXT.
His matches with pre-illness Keith Lee in NXT instantly sold me on the guy. I mean pre-covid Keith Lee was a freaking amazing deal with the way he could move with his size but Dijak hung right there with him and had insane big hoss matches. And then, the goofy shit starts lol. Idk, taking a guy like Dijak and not being able to "get him over" shows problems with the system more than the individual in my opinion. And if everything he wrote is true, he may just be first to feel a new cost cutting initiative post-merger. I would suspect more of these deals coming.
Lee-Dijak at Takeover Portland is one of the best I've had the pleasure of seeing live I would love if it's at all possible to run it back one more time, but unfortunately I'm not sure it is
He would've been a great addition to the midcard title picture in WWE, especially for the IC Title.
I thought he’d be the one to take the NXT title from Trick. Then he was called up and they did nothing with him
feels like dijak might’ve been a guy like swerve who michaels really liked that levesque didn’t agree on so much
That lines up with his Black and Gold NXT tenure.
Except HHH has kept him around on NXT forever. Seems odd, unless they just felt he hit his ceiling in the company. Just a shame he spent so many years of his career there.
Prior to this announcement, I considered making a post asking where Dijak had gone.
And I would've commented on that post with "I've been patiently waiting for him to show up and kick sone ass ever since the draft." If parallel universes are real then there's definitely one where Dijak has Priest's career.
It makes me wonder, why call him up to begin with? If the main roster booking wasn't high on him or the plan was to let his contract expire, wouldn't it make more sense to leave him in NXT for the duration? Worst case, NXT could have still booked him during this time and he could have put someone over on the way out, a la Ricochet. Being the person to put a monster like Dijak on the shelf would have been big for someone.
Jobbing you out on Raw makes you less valuable elsewhere than you doing great on NXT. It's stupid, I know.
But he wasn't even ON Raw to be jobbed out.
I think it's more likely there was confusion, miscommunication, and a lack of organization and the old "no plan" in this situation rather than that As the other person said it's not like he was getting jobbed out he wasn't on tv at all
So they don't waste two months of NXT giving him an exit feud. It's cold as fuck but you can see the logic. Good luck to him, not sure he won't get lost in the shuffle in AEW too sadly but he deserves a chance to really have a go. Proper talent.
He really should have been the one to take the title off Trick. In that same vein, I kinda wish they had left Kiana on NXT long enough for her to get a title run. She's not really doing that much on the main roster and they seemed to have dropped the angle of her helping Adam.
If trick retains at heatwave, he is out of opponents mainly heels to feud with unless they bring someone down from the main roster and if that's the case they could've just kept dijak in nxt
Fuck it, bring Cedric and Vinci down. It's not like Cedric is doing anything on SmackDown anyways. And Giovanni Vinci *hasn't had a match* since he was drafted to SmackDown
Vinci would be a great opponent for trick. I miss his nxt gimmick lol
Retribution sunk everyone involved.
He said they didn't want to renew even after that amazing match he had from NXT TKO... welcome to big business "we are family "
Those first few sentences seem to imply that all those updates about contract negotiations over the past couple months were just sources (either from Dijak or WWE) blowing smoke.
All updates about anything (not just limited to wrestling) are just sources blowing smoke, from one side or the other. You just have to figure out which side is the one putting it out and read between the lines, that's modern media literacy.
One by one, Retribution is being done away with in WWE.
Wasn't Mia released and re-signed? So technically they did finally get rid of all of them.
Shes a good hand, considering the women's roster has some gaps right now, id say shes safe for a while
It has gaps because there are like 20 talented women in NXT just waiting to be used.
Is it wrong that MMM are the only guys I miss from that entire group? I thought their gimmick was perfect for WWE.
At least they’re doing great stuff in the indies right now. I’m rooting for them
And the crazy part is he rehabbed his image after that shitstorm could have easily tanked his career yet no plans for him?!?
Man, Dijak and Keith Lee were tearing the indies up back in 2017 and I assumed he was going to have a huge break in WWE. Can't believe that was seven years ago.
I saw Dijak at a few ROH shows back in that era and he was always really good. Crowd was into him, and he could go for a big guy. Hope he finds something in another company.
That would explain why he hasn’t been seen on raw damn that sucks I really liked Dijak. Hope he kills it wherever he ends up
Update Dijak just tagged AEW, TNA, NJPW in the post
Dominik Dickhead vs Kenny Omega incoming
Now that’s long term storytelling
Personally I think he’d be a monster in TNA but would get a good spot in both AEW and NJPW
Lance Archer's NJPW role would fit him perfectly
AEW needs NO MORE people.
>AEW needs? NO, MORE people. The debilitating lack of punctuation these days...
So true! He would be great in TNA, as AEW needs to work out the roster they already have.
Hope he goes to TNA - he’s going to get lost in AEW and end up like Archer
Dijak is 10 years younger, think his ceiling might be higher.
And if he wants to make comparable money AEW is basically the only place for it
I wouldn't be surprised if budget cuts are coming from the TKO side of things. Like that wrestler said yesterday about getting cut from wwe, " we are family is bullshit "
The one major thing i expected to be much better with HHH taking over from Vince was the logic behind NXT callups (some hits some misses still) But to callup a guy who was on fire in NXT to do nothing with him and then not even negotiate a contract or communicate with them when he wanted to stay is crazy
What hbk does better than HHH is he'll make sure everyone gets a chance to do something Lexis king may not have a main event ceiling but he gets stuff to do
NXT has an advantage over other shows in that they get to cycle their roster, once someones reached the top of mountain in NXT they either have a major heel turn (think Roxanne, Bronn, and Melo) or go to the main roster (Think Dragunov) . They don’t linger. Raw, Smackdown, Dynamite all have to manage heating different people up, cooling others off, etc while in NXT you get to bring in new people (obviously this could suck if the main roster is taking people before your done with them, so it’s not easy but I think booking NXT is a fun challenge like a rebuilding team in sports)
It's annoying because until Rollins recently returned, raw was lacking in star power and I thought they could make up for it with a really strong mid card with guys like dijak and ricochet in the mix Hate to single someone out but Kross is on his like 5th push attempt and dijak didn't even get a chance
Really not sure what they see with Kross in his current form honestly. The guy clearly has some potential, no doubt, but hanging around with the Authors of Pain isn't helping any of them.
Kross has had two runs in WWE where he had monster pushes and he hasn't gotten over at all. I have no idea what they see in him at this point.
He's a Hunter guy since his first push in Hunter's NXT. Around when I stopped watching lmao
Put Dijak in the angle Kross is in now and I guarantee Dijak does that role better.
It's ridiculously easy to book 1-2 years, it's why every new promotion/booker is hot as hell at the start. When most of your talent just leave within 1-2 years, like NXT is structured, you basically get that effect all of the time because you don't ever have to worry about the future. You can just give every talent you actually care about a similar "book strong until they leave and put someone over on the way out."
One of the things lost when the territories died and wrestling become nationally televised. Talent don't have the same options to go elsewhere for a while, then come back fresh. Same reason unbeatable monsters don't work as well. Back in the day, a monster could tear through a territory, lose to the champ, go somewhere else and repeat.
I mean you kinda get that effect with part timers. Show up, wreck shit, win the title, lose to a hot Babyface and disappear for 6 months is nearly exactly how Brock has been booked for the past 10 years lmao.
NXT is less "star dependent" than the main roster shows. They're in front on an audience, both live and TV, that's there to watch NXT, not "brought the kids so they could go "WOAH" to cody" or whatever and aren't as tied to hitting rating metrics and goals. It's just FAR more flexible because it's a lower performing show bolstered by the big ones. (same reason it can devote so much time to women when other shows can't)
Since Vince was on top for so long there’s this misconception that booking is simple, logical, easy, all the things Vince wasn’t. But no matter how hard the booker tries to be objective, their own bias is going to influence decisions. Tony, Trips, HBK, Billy fucking Corgan, whoever.
The thing that's baffling about WWE is that they have a system that no other promotion really have: two strong bookers under the same roof doing different shows. Shawn Michaels and Triple H both look at talent differently and both have different strengths as bookers. Triple H may not have seen something in Cameron Grimes or Dijak, but if you called them up, why not do what HBK did with them on NXT and see if it gets over in front of a wider audience. It's much better than letting them wander around aimlessly before firing them.
With HHH it's a bit baffling because many of these people that are suddenly treated like nobodies had a clearly developed role during the time HHH was booking NXT. Cameron Grimes is another example. I just don't understand how you cannot find a spot for someone like Dijak, especially since you know him very well. I am unironically convinced he belongs with the very best.
I think people need to lower their expectations and realize not every single wrestler is gonna reach the mountain top. Especially when you have a main event scene filled with Rhodes, Rollins, Punk, McIntyre, Orton, Judgment Day, Gunther, The Bloodline, Sami, KO, AJ and so many others. I would assume a bookers job is not make use of everybody they have but to feature the talents that draw in the most people, and to establish a division of rising stars. Unfortunately both the main event and mid card divisions are full. Why hang on to a guy if you're not gonna use him? Also this seems like a more ethical approach than just releasing him.
You mean to tell me there’s NO ROOM for a fairly young, dynamic, consistent, 6’7 heavyweight that can put on classic matches against a multitude of talent in the tag team division? In the lower-mid card division, to build him up? As the muscle for someone? Come on now. They have 2 major shows, each with their own tag champions, each with their own mid card, each with their own main event scene. Maybe not every guy needs to make it to the mountain top but there is a lower card for a reason, and the card structure is a development system in and of itself. Push guys on the lower roster, move them up to mid-card. move them up to intercontinental/US title, move them up to main event, then finally to a championship run - assuming they are successful on all those fronts. To ***NOT EVEN TRY*** is crazy.
it's even sadder to me because it seemed like Dijak was really enjoying his NXT run and got called up to be let go
My conspiracy theory is they didn't WANT to do anything with him. They called him up from NXT in order to free up an upper midcard spot on NXT for someone they wanted more of a future with. Dijak being called up had nothing to do with him, it was about others they want to put in his spot in NXT
I don't think communication is TKO's/the current regime's strong suit. I thought this whole "Punk didn't agree to return until the day of" or "_____'s contract is expiring in 3 hours" thing was a bit, and maybe it is, but then I hear Undertaker talk about how he didn't even know he was going to be in the Mania main event until the show was underway and he was already drinking in his viewing booth... Maybe they just operate like that, which seems insane.
People assume how things works but the truth is no one knows the structure and how it works. Could be HHH, could be TKO. Who knows honestly.
At the end of the day it’s never gonna be a perfect system it’s definitely has improved since HHH has taken over but they’re still gonna be people who had fantastic run in NXT and will be dropped on the main roster.
Thats wild, mans went back to NXT and upped his game so much.
I didn't follow him that closely but it seems like he has great work ethics and a lot of charisma. I also understand why WWE released him though, they just have way too much great upcoming talent in NXT and MR is bottlenecked af. It's a shame but at least he gets to prove WWE wrong and I hope he turns it into motivation.
I’ll never understand not doing something with him. Imo dude has it all. Hope he finds success and gainful employment which given his talents I’m sure he will Also pretty wild they were never negotiating and WWE never even made an offer. Why bother calling him up in the draft? Makes no sense
Feels quite apparent that the way WWE is structured now, people pulling the strings financially with contracts and those doing the booking aren’t the same people, and might not even be sharing all that much with each other.
It's been that way for a while now, Mustafa Ali literally had a scheduled and advertised title match in NXT before he was unceremoniously fired.
Yeah the two craziest examples are Malakai Black re debuting on smackdown, attacking Big E while he was IC champ and being fired days later and Drake Maverick being fired while being in a tournament in NXT. Clearly the people who do the firings don’t even talk to the people booking stories cause shit like that wouldn’t happen otherwise Edit: I know these were pre TKO but my point is the company has done this for a long time
Wait, what? Wasn't that when Vince was still in charge? Pre-TKO? I think the point is that it was different back then...
Feels like HHH needs to put a quarterly call in place with somebody at TKO to know who the bean counters are looking to cut. Need to tighten that up.
I don't think TKO cares about the minute details, They'll just look at the contracts and see they've been paying this guy in NXT the same they pay for Raw and SD and then put a pin in that. Which in many ways I do understand because if you are saying NXT is developmental then how did this guy get called up, Do nothing for years, and then get sent back down? From their point of view Dijak failed. Which sucks cause he's awesome and should have been used better for years.
WWE knew they weren't going to re-sign him. Probably moved him to RAW to kill any current story lines he had, and in case of some injury, to just slot him in quick. Then as the 11th hour came about, he stopped putting his body on the line since no contract was coming
Same with ricochet. It took him leaving for them to finally get a good angle for him
Dijak didn't even get that.
tbf Ricochet is not a good promo at all. Love him, but his voice shakes every time he’s on the mic.
I remember his brief feud with lesnar and he sounded like he didn't even believe in his own words when he was cutting the promo on Brock
His current Terminator/bad ass gimmick is great, but I think there's too much backstage attacks/brawling angles to fit Dijak into. I agree that it's weird that he was even called up when he was thriving in NXT Bron Breakker, The Bloodline, Final Testament, and Wyatt Sicks are all causing backstage chaos, having Dijak in the mix would just be redundant and not as impactful.
If Do or Dijak isn’t on PWTees morning his contract expires what are we doing here
Fuck this ball fumbling, but the silver lining is that the **MxMxShanexDamoxDijak** reunion on the indies is now possible and I am ready
A super athletic big dude that can cut promos sounds like something any company could use. I don’t know why WWE continually fumbled him.
What was the point of calling him up? Good luck to him, anyway. I really like Dijak. Hope he does well wherever he goes.
Sever any storylines, I'd imagine.
to get him off nxt tv i guess
I know it means nothing, but dude had his entrance updated in 2K 2 days ago, just to get released. Unfucking real
I feel so bad that he was called up to RAW...everyone was so excited, and then weeks passed without him being on the show and it just felt wrong. Really sucks he's leaving because he would've killed it on RAW. Feels almost impossible to fumble someone like Dijak. At least it's easy to tell he's gonna do great on the indies!
Imagine him in the mix now with Ilja, Bron, Sheamus, Gunther, etc. Idk why they didn’t even give him one match
i really needed dijak vs gunther... damn, man
Pop off in the indies with MxM Dijak. That'll be exciting to watch.
I’ve been saying it for years now, but the fact that WWE couldn’t figure out what to do with a 6’7 hoss who can go better than the vast majority of wrestlers in the ring is just fucking mind boggling.
Super talented and incredibly underrated, he should have been given more. Felt like he could have set the US/IC divisions on fire if given the chance.
Why the hell do this to someone? Why not just shoot straight, shake hands and part ways? WWE gonna WWE I guess…
I always thought Dijak was everything wwe wanted in a superstar
Kinda want him to go to NJPW. He honestly has a potential to become top gaijin over there instead of becoming a midcarder in AEW
I doubt AEW has interest in him compared to others. That's never stopped them before, but still.
Some guys and girls who are elevated to the main roster as a way to remove them from NXT. Then they are just quietly let go.
They have like 50 guys on their developmental roster, most of whom will be ready to be on the main roster in the next year or two. I honestly don’t know how you bring up that many people in such a short amount of time. It’s obvious tons of people are about to be lost in the shuffle. We’re already seeing that with people like Blair Davenport and Corbin.
It's definitely true that WWE is overloaded on talent, but they're paying the salaries of 5 people to support Karrion Kross failing to get over. You'd have to think Dijak would be a cheaper and better option (not saying they are directly comparable, but there are a handful of people on the roster that are way less over and skilled than Dijak).
This is a damn fucking shame, I really loved DIJAK's work as a trolling asshole that also happened to be an absolute giant, at least he went out with a bang in that epic kaiju fight triple threat match with Oba and Briggs. Also, I'm manifesting that he shows up at DPW!
WWE failed DIJAK, and I mean that 100%. 1000%. Before he was T-Bar, the dude was a masterpiece of a man wrestling amazing matches in NXT. His match with Keith Lee was one of the best feuds that year. Then he got called up and put in a terrible stable and had everything that made him work taken away. WWE failed to make him matter as T-Bar. Dude still is positive and goes back down to NXT. Gets jacked. Does his new gimmick as DIJAK. Puts on an amazing performance. Then, he gets called up again just to do nothing with him. DIJAK will be a top dude somewhere but it won't be with WWE. Can't wait to see what my guy does next!
Mansoor and Mason Madden have been telling Dijak for a while on Twitch that he would greatly benefit from working outside of WWE right more than ever because he's a complete package as a talent compared to when he signed to WWE, I agree with him. It sucks that he won't be in WWE because his presence screamed main roster. He'll do just fine. DPW, NJPW, TNA, AEW, all of them should book him.
That’s really disappointing. He’s talented in all aspects of wrestling imo, and there’s no way he doesn’t get at least offers from those promotions he tagged on this post as soon as they’re able to (he tagged AEW, TNA & NJPW). I was very excited for the callup, would’ve loved to see him get a match against Sheamus or Gunther, but for whatever reason they just never saw the potential with him, sucks that they missed out. Ready to Feast my Eyes ASAP.
What a shame tbh was hoping he would replace Priest after Judgment Day implosion at MITB.
but Karrion Kross gets more chances then the girl in Self-Esteem by the Offspring, I just don’t get it
I see the appeal with Kross form a production standpoint, but once the bell rings, I'm not real impressed. If we could combine Kross' look/build and Dijak's skill and personality, we'd have a complete superstar.
There are a few of guys in wrestling who can carry themselves all on character work and in ring promos, with serviceable in ring ability. Kross is not one of them. He’s not exciting enough of a character or interesting enough as a promo to justify just how lackluster he is in ring.
Yep even with seemingly his biggest supporter HHH giving him chance after chance or refresh after refresh Kross is just not clicking with fans. Dare I say Vince was probably right about Kross (though it doesn’t justify the gimp mask thing) AOP too feel nearer to the Tegan Nox/Emma end of the spectrum when it comes to rehires.
He's a Triple H favourite. He's been in love with him since NXT.
I really don’t understand how they are still trying with Kross. He’s had a bunch of repackaging and it never gets over.
WWE really dropped the ball with this one.
it's a surprising one. had the size. had the skill. seemed like he could do character work but didn't get a lot of chance. but neither Vince or HHH want to use him?
I mean there's A LOT of talent on the main roster rn and there's still other people to come back. It's gonna be pretty tough to find a spot, hell Andrade barely has a spot
Excuse me, Andrade is the UNDISPUTED (speed) Champ! Doesn’t get much better than that
It's honestly a stacked roster, and they have people returning. It's a tough place to be in. Maybe from WWE's POV, they think Dijak can be a bigger star in a company that's less crowded at the top. They might just not be willing to pay what he's worth compared to where they can fit him. I'm just speculating of course, but it still bums me out as a Dijak fan.
WWE saw his twitter just going "ratio" to random people and went "alright"
Absolute shame. He truly killed is in NXT and exceeded all expectations. It sucks WWE couldn't do anything with that, but he's going to keep killing it wherever he goes next
This one baffles me. Dude had so much untapped potential
I will now be signing off emails with ‘Get ready to feast your fucking eyes,’
Has a match of the year candidate, gets drafted, then vanishes and is released. Wild couple months.
It’s so stupid from WWE side Now I get why they just drafted him via twitter (Just to stop having him on NXT), but I never understood why they never trusted him in the first place? Without Ilja/Hayes/Breakker he was imo the best talent remaining in NXT, it made no sense to not wanting him on the NXT roster at least fighting Trick Dijak is really good, he will be a great addition wherever he goes (maybe not AEW as they are also too stacked atm)
How can you look at his matches against Wes Lee and Dragonuv and say, "nah we good" 🤦♂️🤦♂️
TKO seems to have put a ceiling on the contract size for talents. First Ricocchet and now him. I feel like they might have done the same with Nattie.
I thought Ricochet was walking away on his own, not that he wasn't given a new contract to sign.
It was reported that he was offered a contract but they couldn't agree on the money.
Wait I thought the Natalya thing was BS and she was still WWE?
That’s a damn shame, but I guarantee Dijak isn’t gonna struggle for work. The guy is an absolute killer
Such a bummer, dude has everything and never really got a chance to shine on the main roster. Hope he absolutely kills it wherever he goes.
He and Keith Lee had the best match I’ve ever seen live in PWG. dude has it, hope he lands somewhere.
Bullshit
Man that fucking sucks
Absolutely sucks to see that they did nothing with him even after calling him up. He was doing amazing work in NXT especially that feud he had with Dragunov
Probably has a contract a bit shinier than TKO wants to see from someone at his level.
i will never understand how the ball was dropped so hard with this dude when he consistently killed it.
I don’t think it’s understood that main roster talent (with a starting salary of $350k) are still making that salary even if they are in NXT full time. Scrypts and Gulak were released. Corbin and Dijak were called up. I believe the only person left in NXT on a main roster salary is Ridge Holland. My guess is he was drafted back to Raw in an effort to justify his contract. But TKO has been handing out a lot of big money contracts lately and that well was unfortunately going to run out at some point.
I don’t understand this. I’m a big Dijak fan so hopefully he lands on his feet somewhere. He’s got it all
Basically wasted his time with the call-up.
his feud with Keith Lee was peak their chemistry was off the charts.
Do or Dijak is a pretty good catchphrase
FUMBLE. no other words
Ngl... he should trademark do or dijak right now. That would make a great shirt for him
A rare “swing and massive whiff” under the “Triple H era”
Always been a big fan of Dijak, even if I actively stay away from WWE alot these days Dijak is one of the few guys i'll watch a high level match for. Him vs Ilja last year at Battlegrounds Last Man Standing match was the match of the weekend.
Noooooooooooooo
Sad to see, I had high hopes for him on the main roster.
Ugh he was absolutely cooking in NXT. Finally found his groove. Wherever he ends up he will thrive no doubt
hope he gets some retribution
it sucks to see him go cuz i thought more could've been done with him but i'm excited to see what's next for him
I've long been a fan, and I really especially loved his 80s action movie gimmick in NXT. That's just brutal that they'd talk out of both sides of their mouth to him. Whatever comes next, I'll be looking forward to it.
Unreal they couldn't find anything for Dijak, the man was good to great at pretty much of every aspect if the business. His matches with Kieth Lee in NXT are some modern classic big man matches. He ca talk, he can play a character well, and he sure as hell can wrestle.
He always seemed like a HHH guy. I'm surprised they didn't do more with him.
Gotta reckon MxM weren't spamming those "LEAVE!" videos at him without knowledge of the situation from Dijak's perspective according to this "letter," then. EDIT: [Speak of the devils, Dijak will be on stream for a Q&A with them tonight around 8 PM EST.](https://x.com/DijakWWE/status/1806367774744227906)
Damn I was looking forward to seeing him on raw
This sucks.
its kind of shocking. especially under Vince. Dijak is a guy who could "turn heads in the airport". He has everything you want in a pro wrestler. Also proven he could be over with the right push. This is definitely a guy who AEW would benefit from having.
WWE's Talent Relations department must be a mess if they are not even talking to a talent and their representation about a renewal.
He just doesn't have a great look in my opinion. Long armed big man, comes off as awkward looking and the shades and grimace just felt cringe. He looks like a dad on the school run.
Honestly, good for him. If you don't get appreciated enough then you have to leave. Also I feel like this will be like a Drew McIntyre situation where he will crush it somewhere else and get a big offer from WWE in some years.
I get not coming to terms but not even getting an OFFER of renewal? If I were Dijak I'd find that incredibly insulting. Especially since the guy managed to MacGuyver any kind of hype around himself with the scraps he had to work with. Unbelievable.