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Even after being with WWE for nearly seven years, Donovan Dijak admits he should have been better prepared for the end date of his contract and has some advice for those in similar situations.
This past June, WWE chose not to renew the contract of the former Dominik Dijakovic and T-Bar. He still maintains that WWE never negotiated with him after attempts on his part were made.
“We attempted to negotiate and they stonewalled us. They never made me a single offer. Then, they informed me they would not renew my contract at the eleventh hour,” he said.
However, he doesn’t blame WWE and instead is taking responsibility, saying, “I didn’t see it as a realistic possibility even though I should have.”
He went on to offer advice to both his former colleagues and friends in WWE and anyone with a job that they should always prepare for the worst case scenario.
“I’ll put this warning out for all my colleagues and friends in WWE, those of which I haven’t spoke to personally. Don’t assume, right? If your contract is up on ‘X’ date, plan for that. Don’t assume, ‘Okay, I’m going to get renewed.’ Prepare for the worst case scenario. Then, if the best case scenario happens, great. I didn’t. I did not. I just assumed that ‘Oh, I’m doing so well, I’ll be the best case scenario.’ That was a poor assumption on my part. I should have planned better because I knew the date it was up and it was getting closer and closer and obviously, there was anxiety growing. But I didn’t plan for it. I just hoped it wouldn’t happen and that’s not the case. So, not just for WWE wrestlers, any wrestler, any person, any human being.”
Dijak started his WWE career in August 2017 with NXT, making his Raw debut in September 2020 as T-Bar in Retribution. After the group disbanded, he was drafted to SmackDown where he would team with Mace (Mason Madden). Then in 2022, he was repackaged as Dijak back in NXT. Two years later on night two of the 2024 WWE Draft, he was drafted back to Raw. However, it wasn’t shown on TV but instead on social media. Soon after, his contract wasn’t renewed.
He thought that drafting not being shown on TV was a bit of a red flag and when he started “hoping for the best and planning for the worst.”
“It wasn’t the end of the world. I wasn’t horrified or anything but it was a (red) flag. I said. ‘There’s the possibility that they don’t see me as a financial asset’ in the way that I hoped they did which up until that moment, I hadn’t felt that way. That was the first moment where I was like, ‘Maybe I should have planned better for what’s after this.’ And it turned out I was right. I should have planned better because they didn’t see me as the financial asset that I was hoping that they might. And again, I don’t blame them for that.”
Donovan Dijak: I should have prepared better for WWE contract end date
Image: WWE Even after being with WWE for nearly seven years, Donovan Dijak admits he should have been better prepared for the end date of his contract and has some advice for those in similar…
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