Summary

Donovan Dijak said he believed he was lined up for NXT's men's Survivor Series elimination match in 2019 before the final spot went to Gunther, who was still working as WALTER at the time.

Speaking on In The Weeds, Dijak said he was already at the show and expected to be part of the team, but the lineup was not finalized until the day of the event. He said that change cost him what would have been his first and only WWE pay-per-view appearance.

Quote from Donovan Dijak

"I think I'm on record of saying this before, that was all built to Survivor Series where NXT like won the Survivor Series or whatever. That was like a big moment for us and whatever, I was brought in, not brought in, I mean our show was like the night before so I was there anyway, but I was like booked for that Survivor Series show and I assumed it was to be on the Survivor Series team, but they didn't completely finish booking the teams until that day and unfortunately for me and obviously fortunately for him I think my spot was taken by Walter at the time. Because Walter wasn't full-time with Black and Gold. At that time, he was kind of coming in from NXT UK, and he was the person who got that final spot. I think most people, and probably with the benefit of hindsight, the way it went down, I think people probably would have preferred me in that spot simply because Walter had like a quick exchange and then got rolled up and people were like, why did Walter lose? Cause he's this big, you know, dominating, he still is. He's still on top and he just kills everyone and wins championships and stuff. So people were very confused that he had this quick interaction where he got rolled up, and I was like, did you need a guy to get rolled up? Cause that was me. I was sitting right there in the back. I had my gear and everything. So yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't thrilled about that, but he probably wasn't either. So yeah, I kind of wish that was different because that would have been my first and only pay-per-view appearance in WWE. So that would have been pretty sweet for me, but yeah, it didn't happen. So, you know, all's well that ends well."

Survivor Series 2019 and Dijak's missed opening

Dijak's comments put a different light on one of NXT's biggest nights of that era. The men's team match was part of WWE's three-brand Survivor Series push that year, and Dijak said missing the final cut still stands out because it would have put him on a WWE pay-per-view card for the first time.

That also adds a little more context to how Dijak looks back on his WWE run. He has recently revisited other moments from that period as well, including his story about NXT coaches backing him during the Kenny Omega exchange.

Sources

Donovan Dijak while speaking on In The Weeds