Dominik Dijakovic

Christopher James Dijak (born April 23, 1987) is an American-Croatian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Dominik Dijakovic. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand.

Dominik Dijakovic
Dijak in April 2018
Birth nameChristopher James Dijak
Born (1987-04-23) April 23, 1987[1]
Lunenburg, Massachusetts, United States[1]
ResidenceOrlando, Florida, United States
Spouse(s)Ashley Dijak[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Chris Dijak
Dijak[3]
Donovan Dijak[4]
Dominik Dijakovic
Billed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)[4]
Billed weight270 lb (122 kg)[4]
Billed fromWorcester, Massachusetts
Trained byBrian Fury
Debut2013[4]

He is best known for his time in Ring of Honor (ROH) and on the independent circuit, under the ring name Donovan Dijak.

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 years, and led the basketball team in rebounding his senior year. 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

Chaotic Wrestling (2013–2017)

Following two losses in smaller promotions, Dijak joined Chaotic Wrestling, training under Brian Fury and Todd Hanson.[9] He made his debut in August 2013 in a winning effort against Vern Vicallo, and remained undefeated until July 2014 when he lost to Chaotic Wrestling champion Mark Shurman. After earning another title shot in a fatal four-way match the next month, he went on to defeat Shurman in their rematch on October 24 and claim the CW Heavyweight Championship. After a reign of 148 days, he lost the title against Chase Del Monte on March 21, 2015. In 2016, Dijak teamed with Mikey Webb to form the tag team The American Destroyers. Dijak and Webb would go on to win the Chaotic Wrestling Tag Team Championship by defeating The Logan Brothers on December 26, 2016, before losing them less than a month later to The Mill City Hooligans. In his final match for the promotion, Dijak defeated Christian Casanova and Josh Briggs in a triple threat match for the Chaotic Wrestling New England Championship. Immediately after the match, he vacated the title.[10]

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.[11] 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).[12] On June 19, at Best in the World 2015, he wrestled against Mark Briscoe on a losing effort.[13] 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.[14] 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.[15] Dijak announced his departure from ROH via Twitter on February 12, 2017.[16]

WWE

NXT (2017–2020)
In 2017, Dijak signed with WWE and was assigned to NXT

In January 2017, WWE pulled a contract offer from Dijak, following a legal threat from ROH, who still had him under contract.[17] The following month, Dijak opted not to re-sign with ROH, essentially putting his career on hold, waiting for another contract offer from WWE.[17] On July 20, it was reported that Dijak was finishing up his independent bookings ahead of joining WWE.[17] Dijak reported to the WWE Performance Center on August 21.[18] His signing was announced by the company on September 5.[19]

Dijak made his debut for WWE's developmental branch, NXT, on September 23.[20] His television debut, under his real name, came on May 30, 2018, in a loss against Ricochet. In July 2018, WWE revealed Dijak's new ring name as Dominik Dijakovic. Promos started to appear on the December 5, 2018 episode of NXT, promoting the debut of Dominik Dijakovic. Dijakovic made his debut as a villain on the December 19 episode of NXT, defeating Aaron Mackey.[21]

Following WrestleMania 35, he was set to feud with then NXT North American Champion Velveteen Dream over the championship. However, in April 2019, he suffered a torn meniscus that would require surgery.[22] He would be out of action until late July, when he returned at an NXT live event.[23]

On November 13, 2019 episode of NXT, Dijakovic started a slow face turn when he joined Team Ciampa for the annual WarGames match with Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Riddle and Keith Lee against The Undisputed Era at TakeOver: WarGames. Riddle proceeded to leave the team to pursue his rivalry with Finn Bálor.[24] At the event, Dijakovic and Team Ciampa defeated The Undisputed Era, with Riddle's place being taken by Kevin Owens.[25]

On the January 29, 2020 episode of NXT, Dijakovic defeated Damian Priest to become the number one contender for Keith Lee's NXT North American Championship at NXT TakeOver: Portland on February 16, where he failed to win the title. After the match, Lee and Dijakovic shook hands as a sign of respect, confirming his face turn.[26]

After Lee's NXT Championship win against Adam Cole at NXT: The Great American Bash, Dijakovic was challenged by Lee to a Winner Takes All match on the following episode, but was unsuccessful in capturing the titles. He was then attacked by Karrion Kross during a backstage interview, resulting in a match between the two the July 22 episode of NXT, which Dijakovic lost.


Championships and accomplishments
Dijak with the Chaotic Wrestling Heavyweight Championship belt
gollark: OR on water OR OTHER SUBSTANCES.
gollark: Matt, DO NOT set the person on fire.
gollark: How wonderful.
gollark: Would the *goblins* have communicated with the city somehow?
gollark: ++data inc xp

References
  1. "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. "Donovan Dijak". Ring of Honor. Archived from the original on May 22, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved February 29, 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Dijak finds success at Bridgewater State". www.sentinelandenterprise.com.
  7. "Ring life has a hold on Tyngsboro man". www.lowellsun.com.
  8. "Brockton Enterprise: "Bridgewater State Football Hopes To Pick Up Where It Left Off"". MASCAC. September 2, 2009.
  9. "Dominik Dijakovic". Cagematch.
  10. "CW Heavyweight Championship history".
  11. Namako, Jason (July 29, 2014). "7/27 Future of Honor Results: Laurel, Delaware (8-Man Tag)". Wrestleview. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  12. 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.
  13. "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.
  14. "1/13 ROH on Comet TV – Final Battle fallout, Bennett & Maria, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. January 13, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  15. "2/27 RING OF HONOR TV TAPING RESULTS FROM LAS VEGAS, NV - PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
  16. Fiorvanti, Tim (March 23, 2017). "Donovan Dijak weighing his options as one of pro wrestling's hottest free agents". ESPN.
  17. Meltzer, Dave (July 20, 2017). "Donovan Dijak headed to WWE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  18. 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.
  19. Currier, Joseph (September 5, 2017). "WWE officially confirms Donovan Dijak signing". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  20. Williams, JJ (September 23, 2017). "NXT Largo, FL, live results: Donovan Dijak makes his debut". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  21. "Every WWE Performance Center recruit: photos - Dominik Dijakovic (USA)". WWE.com. WWE.
  22. Lambert, Jeremy (May 8, 2019). "Dominik Dijakovic Undergoes Surgery For Torn Meniscus". fightful.com.
  23. Lambert, Jeremy (July 21, 2019). "Dominik Dijakovic Returns At NXT Live Event". fightful.com.
  24. Aiken, Chris (November 13, 2019). "WWE NXT live results: Mia Yim vs. Io Shirai ladder match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  25. Knipper, Justin (November 23, 2019). "NXT TakeOver WarGames live results: Two WarGames matches". Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  26. Chiari, Mike. "Keith Lee Beats Dominik Dijakovic, Retains North American Title at NXT TakeOver". Bleacher Report. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  27. "LCW Keystone Cup 2015 – Saturday Show". Retrieved January 17, 2016.
  28. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2015". The Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved October 7, 2015.
  29. "Glory Pro/PWR No Wasted Luck « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". www.cagematch.net.
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