Donovan Dijak

Donovan Dijak
Dijak in April 2018
Birth name Christopher James Dijak
Born (1987-04-23) April 23, 1987[1]
Leominster, Massachusetts, United States[1]
Residence Orlando, Florida, United States
Spouse(s) Ashley Dijak[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Chris Dijak
Christopher Dijak
Dijak[3]
Donovan Dijak[4]
Dominik Dijakovic
Billed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)[4]
Billed weight 270 lb (120 kg)[4]
Billed from Worcester, Massachusetts
Trained by Brian Fury
Debut 2013[4]

Christopher James Dijak (born April 23, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Donovan Dijak from his time in Ring of Honor and on the independent circuit. He is signed to WWE and assigned to its developmental territory NXT under the name Dominik Dijakovic.

Early life

Dijak grew up in Lunenburg, Massachusetts and was a standout three sport athlete at Lunenburg High School. Dijak excelled specifically at football, as he was heavily recruited by many top New England area college football programs. Dijak was named the 2005 Sentinel & Enterprise Male Scholar Athlete of the Year, a Central Massachusetts Shriners All-Star selection, and was named a captain and selected as the team MVP during his senior season. Ultimately, Dijak accepted a scholarship to play college football for the UMass Minutemen.[5]

After redshirting his freshman season at UMass and struggling to adjust at the large campus, Dijak ultimately decided to transfer to Bridgewater State University, a mid-sized liberal arts college located approximately 20 miles outside Boston, Massachusetts. At Bridgewater State, Dijak excelled at both football and basketball, leading the football team in both tackles and sacks in his junior and senior year, and led the basketball team in rebounding his senior year. Dijak was pancaked by teammate and fellow senior offensive guard Joel Nunes during “Okie” drills. Dijak also earned all-league honors in both sports. He was also named to the NCAA Division III Football East Region All-American team in his senior season playing for the Bears. Dijak graduated from Bridgewater State in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice.[6][7][8]

Professional wrestling career

Ring of Honor (2014–2017)

He made his debut in Ring of Honor on July 27 at Future of Honor 2, first defeating Stokely Hathaway and then falling in defeat to Moose.[9] Dijak won the 2015 Top Prospect Tournament, defeating Will Ferrara in the finals.[4] This victory allowed him to face Jay Lethal for the ROH World Television Championship. However, he refused to take this opportunity and instead joined Truth Martini's The House of Truth, establishing himself as a heel.[4] His first match as a member of the House of Truth took place on March 7, teaming with J Diesel and beating the team of Brutal Burgers (Bob Evans and Cheeseburger).[10] On June 19, at Best in the World 2015, he wrestled against Mark Briscoe on a losing effort.[11] He managed to win his next pay-per-view match against Takaaki Watanabe at Death Before Dishonor XIII.

On December 19 (aired January 13, 2016), he was banned from Truth Martini's stable, initially turning face in the process.[12] At the February 27 ROH TV tapings, Dijak came out with Prince Nana and attacked Truth Martini, turning heel again and making a rare double-turn with Jay Lethal and Becoming Prince Nana's Latest Crown Jewel In the Embassy stable.[13] Dijak announced his departure from ROH via Twitter on February 12, 2017.[14]

Chaotic Wrestling (2014–2015)

Dijak has also wrestled for Chaotic Wrestling, where he won the CW Heavyweight Championship by defeating Mark Shurman in October 2014. After a reign of 148 days, he lost the title against Chase Del Monte on March 21, 2015.[15]

WWE (2017–present)

In January 2017, WWE pulled a contract offer from Dijak, following a legal threat from ROH, who still had him under contract.[16] The following month, Dijak opted not to re-sign with ROH, essentially putting his career on hold, waiting for another contract offer from WWE.[16] On July 20, it was reported that Dijak was finishing up his independent bookings ahead of joining WWE.[16] Dijak reported to the WWE Performance Center on August 21.[17] His signing was announced by the company on September 5.[18] Dijak made his debut for WWE's developmental branch, NXT, on September 23.[19] His television debut, under the name Chris Dijak, came on May 30, 2018, in a loss against Ricochet.

In July 2018, WWE revealed Dijak's new ring name as Dominik Dijakovic.[20]

Championships and accomplishments

Dijak with the Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship

References

  1. 1 2 "Donovan Dijak". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  2. ↑ Crockett, Paul (September 5, 2017). "Feast your eyes: Donovan Dijak's journey from New England to Orlando". PWInsider. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Donovan Dijack". CageMatch.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Donovan Dijak". Ring of Honor. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  6. ↑ http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/ci_10886116?source=rss_emailed
  7. ↑ http://www.lowellsun.com/sports/ci_28475377/ring-life-has-hold-tyngsboro-man
  8. ↑ http://www.mascac.com/sports/fball/news/2009-10/Bridgewater_Enterprise_Preview
  9. ↑ Namako, Jason (July 29, 2014). "7/27 Future of Honor Results: Laurel, Delaware (8-Man Tag)". Wrestleview. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  10. ↑ Metzger, Mike (March 30, 2015). "Metzger's ROH TV report 3/29: Samoa Joe vs. Kyle O'Reilly main event, The Decade's new Young Boy, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  11. ↑ "06/19 Powell's ROH Best in the World 2015 pay-per-view live review: ROH Champion Jay Briscoe vs. ROH TV Champion Jay Lethal for both titles, Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian vs. Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly in a No DQ match for the ROH Tag Titles, A.J. Styles and The Young Bucks vs. Adam Cole, Michael Bennett, and Matt Taven". ProWrestling.net. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  12. ↑ "1/13 ROH on Comet TV – Final Battle fallout, Bennett & Maria, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. January 13, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  13. ↑ 2/27 RING OF HONOR TV TAPING RESULTS FROM LAS VEGAS, NV – PWInsider.com
  14. ↑ https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/roh-news-donovan-dijak-announces-departure-from-ring-of-honor
  15. 1 2 "CW Heavyweight Championship history".
  16. 1 2 3 Meltzer, Dave (July 20, 2017). "Donovan Dijak headed to WWE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  17. ↑ Keller, Wade (August 21, 2017). "Big name indy stars report to WWE Performance Center, Reigns on Shield reunion, Stevie Richards, Kid Rock, Robbie E". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
  18. ↑ Currier, Joseph (September 5, 2017). "WWE officially confirms Donovan Dijak signing". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  19. ↑ Williams, JJ (September 23, 2017). "NXT Largo, FL, live results: Donovan Dijak makes his debut". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  20. ↑ "Every WWE Performance Center recruit: photos - Dominik Dijakovic (USA)". WWE.com. WWE.
  21. ↑ "LCW Keystone Cup 2015 – Saturday Show". Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2015". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  23. ↑ https://www.cagematch.net//?id=1&nr=178406
  24. ↑ "List of WrestleMerica Heavyweight Champions".
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