Former Superstar Admits WWE Show Is A “Death Sentence”
A former WWE star was less than thrilled to find out they’d be wrestling on Main Event.
On June 27th, Dijak announced he was leaving WWE when his contract expired just 24 hours later. The star had been subject to a huge amount of speculation in recent weeks given his contract status, and WWE’s apparent reluctance to use him on television.
After impressing on his return to NXT, Dijak was called up to Monday Night Raw as part of the Draft but failed to make a single appearance on the Red brand.
In an open letter to fans explaining his departure from the company, Dijak said WWE refused to negotiate with him over a new deal, despite him and his team trying to begin talks. He said he was then informed his contract wouldn’t be renewed at the “11th hour.”
WWE Main Event Is A Death Sentence
During his absence from Raw, Dijak only wrestled two matches. The first of these came on Main Event again Pete Dunne, while the second was on Speed, in early June.
In a new interview with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, Dijak admitted he didn’t take the news of wrestling on Main Event well, describing the show as a “death sentence.”
“One of the bigger daggers to me was I got a text from the writer who was assigned to me. He and I had a good conversation the first or second week of Raw where I pitched all this stuff. I was hearing through the grapevine, ‘Creative wants to use you. Hunter has this plan. He wants you on TV every week.’ ‘Good, good. I can recover. As long as I’m wrestling in a ring, I know I can make this work.’
It was a Saturday, I got a text from my writer, ‘Hey we have you on Main Event.’ The second I saw that, I’m like, ‘F*ck.’ I know what that means. That’s not an opportunity, that’s a death sentence. ‘Sh*t.’ I’m working with Paragon (Talent Agency), Mojo (Rawley) and Steve (Kay). I don’t know where I would be without them. Where my headspace would be without them, but it’d be in a bad spot right now. I’m thankful to have them on board. They’re super brilliant. They’re staying positive.
Online, the discourse is, ‘They’re just waiting for him to re-sign. They want to lock him in.’ Mojo and Steve are reassuring, ‘They do this all the time. They’re trying to get a better deal so they’re taking you down to the wire.’
In the back of my head I’m like, ‘Maybe.’ I’m not saying they’re wrong. They’re wonderful and looking out for my best interests, but I’ve been me for the past seven years and I know how this company talks to people and treats people at my level. I’m familiar with how that works. ‘It does not feel like that guys,’
Following his departure, Dijak called out WWE for how it handles releasing talent.