Published: Jul 10, 2024 by SP3 | Last Updated: Jul 11, 2024 by SP3
Born in Harlem, New York and now living in the Bronx, Sid Pullar III aka SP3 is a lifelong wrestling fan who has been covering the industry for over nine years as a podcaster and writer. His passion for the industry has been documented with over 3,000 videos on YouTube and 8,000 written pieces across multiple outlets, such as WrestleTalk, Sports Illustrated and more.@TruHeelSP3
WWE
Following his departure from the company, former WWE star Donovan Dijak has revealed some pitched Retribution leaders.
On June 27, Donovan Dijak took to social media to reveal that he was leaving WWE when his contract expired on June 28 after the company made the decision to not renew his deal.
During his seven year stint with WWE, Dijak’s most prominent run on the main roster was when he was part of the Retribution stable as T-BAR that started in the summer of 2020.
After revealing himself alongside MACE and SLAPJACK as the first members of the group, Mustafa Ali was eventually revealed as the leader of the group in October of that same year.
In a new interview with Tru Heel Heat Wrestling, Donovan Dijak was asked when he found out that Mustafa Ali would be the leader of Retribution. He answered:
“We all found out that day that it was going to be Ali, including himself.
“A producer came over to us like, we’re gonna reveal Ali as your leader, and we saw someone talking to him and he came over like ‘I guess I’m the leader of Retribution’.”
If you use this transcription or any portion of it please credit WrestleTalk.com and link to this page
On who he heard could have been another possible option for the role, Dijak said:
“None of us were told anything any further than that in advance. I heard a rumour that before that it was supposed to be Finn Balor but the timing was off, I think the timing was off because he was slated to go down to NXT to become the NXT Champion.
“I don’t know if that was true or not, but I was told at least that was a pitch.”
If you use this transcription or any portion of it please credit WrestleTalk.com and link to this page
On some names that he pitched for the Retribution leader, Dijak said:
“We had pitched Vince himself, I pitched Shane McMahon, I pitched, we had like a list at one point, basically I listed the most important people I could think of, because I wanted Vince to love this story, and be like ‘I’m in it, it’s the most important story!’
“I was pitching like the WWE Champion, whoever was the most important, whoever had to be on TV, I wanted THAT to be our leader.
“They went with Ali and frankly, I doubt he wanted to do it, because we were all in masks, but he wasn’t, so that in a different way is embarrassing.
“Again, nobody thinks higher than Mustafa Ali than me, everyone in that group gave everything that they have, and I’ve never seen five people work harder for less benefit ever in my experience in WWE, I’ve just never seen it.”
If you use this transcription or any portion of it please credit WrestleTalk.com and link to this page
Donovan Dijak has since made his first post-WWE appearances on the independent scene, including his first match for Beyond Wrestling on July 4.
Elsewhere in the interview, Dijak explained the reasoning for his WWE departure letter, which you can read here.
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