Summary

Donovan Dijak says the final WWE NXT before AEW Dynamite launched on Wednesday nights felt equal parts motivating and tense as the locker room prepared for direct competition.

Speaking on In The Weeds, Dijak said the message inside NXT was clear before the two shows began sharing a timeslot in 2019. He described feeling like NXT talent had to defend their place, and said that mindset pushed him to try to outperform expectations alongside the rest of the roster.

Quote from Donovan Dijak

Dijak said:

"It was exciting and nerve-wracking all at the same time. We were told straight up many times that- I don’t think they used the word war, but they they talked about AEW and they said that like they’re- I don’t want to give you quotes, so I’m paraphrasing, it’s not a direct quote, but it was something to the effect of- they’re coming for us and they’re coming for our spot. You know, something in that in that realm like given to us to motivate us, and it worked you know, I was very much, like, I felt like it was us against them, and that’s the way that it was presented to me, and then, you know, there were obviously, sort of bombs being lobbed in both directions. So I, you know, I was taking everything very personally at that time. Obviously, in hindsight, not in… I probably shouldn’t have been, because obviously WWE did not feel like I was some sort of incredible family member with the benefit of hindsight. But, you know, I did feel an obligation to, you know, like myself and my family and Keith and Keith’s family, especially given that platform to over-perform and over-exceed expectations."

What Dijak's NXT comments say about that era

Dijak's comments underline how seriously at least some people within NXT took the arrival of Dynamite as a real challenge, even before the rivalry was publicly framed as the Wednesday Night War. His description also lines up with other stories he has told from that stretch, including when he recalled WWE PC coaches backing him during his Kenny Omega spat.

For wrestling fans, that matters because Dijak is describing a locker room mentality, not just a TV scheduling change. The pressure he described helps explain why so many NXT performers treated that period like a proving ground, and why those years are still remembered as one of the most heated modern promotion-vs-promotion stretches in wrestling.

Sources

Donovan Dijak while speaking on In The Weeds