Dijak opens up about his WWE exit, being drafted to WWE Raw, and more.
Dijak revealed that he would not be continuing on as a WWE Superstar in an X post on June 27. His contract expired on June 28 and now, Dijak is talking to Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp and revealing how he found out his contract wouldn't be renewed, being moved over from WWE NXT to WWE Monday Night Raw in the WWE Draft, and more in a new interview.
Dijak says he was not given a specific reason why his contract would not be renewed, but he says he tried to renegotiate with the company and noticed that the company was abnormally allowing a great deal of time to go by without renegotiating.
"(I was told) not that long ago. For one reason or another, I was told to not get in the specifics of the date. I don’t know whether it matters or not. It was somewhat recently. Let’s put it this way; I’ve been trying to negotiate with WWE. When I started, and even as recently as two years ago, contracts were renegotiated years in advance. I’ve had probably five or six contracts with WWE. Right now, is the deepest into a contract by two years that I’ve ever gotten. The closest I’ve gotten on another deal before it was renewed, was two years out."
Discussing the standard 90-day non-compete clause typically present in WWE contracts, Dijak would say he prefers not having his contract renewed in this way because it allows him to strike while the iron is hot concerning future bookings as opposed to those who are beholden to a non-compete clause who need to wait 3 months before they can start progressing in their career.
"It’s a double-edged sword. The pros are, save everything for a couple days in advance and go, ‘I’m free tomorrow,’ and all of a sudden I’m the fun new toy right away. Where others go this guy has been released, they make their fun video, and everyone has to wait three months to book them. It’s a big pro. I was on WWE programming eight days ago on Speed. ‘Haha, Speed,’ it’s still viewed by 2.3 million people. I was the pinned tweet for WWE yesterday," he said. "I found out (about the contract not being renewed) after I wrestled Xavier Woods, obviously. Maybe not obviously, because I probably would have done it regardless. I’ll state it as fact; I found out after I wrestled Xavier Woods, but I found out before everybody publicly advertised that match and it got posted."
TODAY on #WWESpeed!
— WWE (@WWE) June 19, 2024
Who will advance in the #WWESpeed No. 1 Contender Tournament? Will it be @AustinCreedWins or @DijakWWE ? -- pic.twitter.com/NtiUSLf1nt
With regard to his move over to the Monday Night Raw brand from NXT in 2024, Dijak would say that he doesn't know why he was drafted back to the red brand. However, he hypothesizes that WWE had a feeling that he was already on the chopping block and they decided to use him on WWE NXT positive experience out of the relationship as possible.
An excellent question that no one has given me an answer to. I’ve asked it, but no one has given me an answer. You can rolodex ten, twelve, fourteen reasons. I’ve been in WWE long enough to where I know generally how things operate and how things take place. My gut feeling is they had a general idea of when my contract was up. I don’t know whether the decision-makers have that date in front of them. I think they were generally aware of when my time was coming up. My guess would be that these decisions were made in some capacity before I went to NXT. A group of individuals likely looked at me as a whole and said, ‘Here’s T-BAR, he’s up in June 2024. Do we release him now or do we try to get as much out of this contract as we possibly can?’ Thankfully, on my part, the conclusion was, ‘Let’s put him in NXT and see what he can do.’ Nobody is more thankful for that than me," he expressed. "I’ve been super public. I’ve thanked Hunter and Shawn publicly and privately a number of times. It saved my career. I’m thankful for that. That being said, it’s disheartening, and I don’t know this to be fact, but my gut tells me, no matter what I did the decision had been made. I didn’t feel that way in NXT. In NXT, I was like, ‘Fuck yes, this is my chance. I’m going to out-wrestle everybody. I’m the best wrestler in the world. I’ll lose every match. It doesn’t matter. They did me a favor. I’m going to put this guy over huge. I’m going to have everybody’s best match. Every TV, every pay-per-view, I don’t care who it is. I don’t care if it’s two minutes. I’m going to do everything in my power to have the best matches possible to show and prove that I’m the best and I deserve this opportunity.’ Every time I went out there, ‘You fucking nailed it.’ As recently as two months ago at Stand & Deliver. ‘I fucked nailed it.’ Triple threats are hard as hell. Everyone was watching. It’s WrestleMania weekend. The draft is coming up. Everything is working out. Then, I’m sitting there during the draft. The draft is a shoot. Nobody knows what’s happening. I’m watching the names. There is an angel and demon on my shoulder. Part of me is sitting there grumpy because I thought it would be funny and I’m in character. Why would I stand an applaud? Internally, I’m thinking, ‘You’ve been told there are plans for you to be in the main event picture for the NXT Championship. Also, your contract is up in a month or so.’ There is an argument in my head, ‘Do you want to stay in NXT with Trick and have this cool feud. Will they renew you in NXT?
"That will be weird and an awkward conversation," he continued. "You’re on a main roster contract still.’ It’s a weird middle ground. I watch the names get listed off. As they keep going, I’m like, ‘Uh oh.’ I’m thinking, the further this goes, the more likely I am to be in the supplemental draft. If I’m in the supplemental draft, I’m fucked. It just means ‘we don’t care.’ I’m watching the names. They get to the last name, ‘Maybe if it’s on TV, it’s salvaged.’ I think the last name is Blair Davenport. Everyone is clapping. ‘Please still be in NXT.’ Whoever was doing the announcing, they were like, ‘We have one more announcement.’"
Dijak also reveals that once he was drafted back to WWE Raw, he had a feeling that his time with the company was going to an end.
"The second I heard those words, everything clicked together, ‘I’m so screwed.’ I texted my wife or friends or all of them, ‘I think I’m completely screwed.’ I’m connecting the dots. My contract ends in one month, they’re going to call me up in the supplemental draft, that means they don’t have anything for me, that means I’m going to come down to the wire, that means they’re going to bend my over the barrel or fire me.' I’m connecting all these dots," said Dijak. "Meanwhile, there are cameras on me, and I have play pretend that I’m happy. In a sense, I am because they’re cheering for me and supporting me. I’m like, ‘None of these people know what I know.’ Maybe they did, but certainly not the talent. I didn’t just go to NXT. I went back to the Performance Center. I live in New Hampshire. I’m flying down to the PC weeks at a time to train with people, do classes with the younger kids and give back. I’m all in on this Performance Center lifestyle. They’re all shoot happy for me. In my head, I’m like, ‘I’m fucked.’ I try to stay positive. ‘You’re on Raw. Maybe there is a plan.’ I go to the first Raw. There is nothing on the sheet. You start playing the WWE game. ‘Maybe it’s this.’ The more you try to justify it, the more you go deeper in your brain. ‘Yup, you’re fucked.’"
Fans and promoters can continue to find Dijak on social media where he has listed his booking information for those interested in adding Dijak to their card at this time.
Check out the full interview with Dijak embedded at the top of this page.
