WWE Star Calls His Current Rivalry ‘Tremendous’, Praises Storytelling

WWE

Since joining WWE in 2017 the majority of NXT star Dijak’s time has been spent in WWE’s developmental brand aside from an ill-fated spell on the main roster as T-Bar in the Retribution faction.

Following a repackaging in late 2022, Dijak is now back on the developmental brand, working with other rising stars.

After unsuccessfully challenging for Wes Lee’s North American Championship, Dijak entered a program with Ilja Dragunov.

Speaking to Stick to Wrestling, Dijak spoke glowingly of the rivalry ahead of his bout with Dragunov at NXT Battleground.

Dijak said:

“It’s been tremendous (Dijak said about his storyline with Ilja Dragunov). All I’ve ever wanted out of professional wrestling, especially with WWE is story.

“It’s funny because, like, me as a person and as a character and as a presentation, I feel like the focus always becomes the in-ring whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It’s certainly a passion of mine.

“I put all of my thought and all of my energy and all of my focus into the ring in-product because I train constantly. To this day, I’m training with the younger guys, just constantly.

“Most guys, they kind of stop training after a while, certainly consistently but I just have a consistent need especially if I’m not wrestling frequently and NXT doesn’t do a tremendous amount of house shows so I try to be in the ring doing matches, stuff like that.

“The in-ring is extremely, extremely important to me. I wish it was more important to the overall product but the reality is if you’re being honest with yourself as a performer, it’s not. It just isn’t.

“It’s the stories and the characters and those things end up becoming more important and valuable to the consumer, to the fan and I recognize that as a consumer and as a fan.”

With Dijak back in NXT his future in WWE looks far more promising once again, however there was a time during his time as T-Bar that he felt he rubbed Vince McMahon the wrong way, telling a story of his ‘awkward’ first meeting with the Chairman of WWE.

To find out the full story follow this link here.

At NXT Battleground, Dijak and Dragunov will face off in a last man standing bout.

The card for NXT Battleground on Sunday, May 28 is as follows:

NXT Championship – Carmelo Hayes (c) vs. Bron Breakker

NXT Women’s Championship – Lyra Valkyria vs. Tiffany Stratton

Heritage Cup Championship – Noam Dar (c) vs. Dragon Lee

NXT Tag Team Championship – Mark Coffey & Wolfgang (c) vs. Brutus & Julius Creed

North American Championship – Wes Lee (c) vs. Joe Gacy vs. Tyler Bate

Last Man Standing – Dijak vs. Ilja Dragunov

Transcript courtesy of POST Wrestling

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• Dijak
• Ilja Dragunov
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