One of my favorite aspects of writing these pieces, is getting to learn more about the athletes, often discovering some of the depth behind their life story. Christopher Dijak, better known by his ring name, Donovan Dijak, is one deep individual.
A “mass-hole” through and through, Dijak was a star athlete and scholar in high school and college excelling at both football and basketball. Graduating with a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from University of Massachusetts Amherst and Bridge Water State College, Dijak is also a mentor, coach and role model to young athletes and troubled youth. Having working as both a women’s basketball coach and currently as a residential case worker, Dijak certainly knows a lot about giving back to his community.
While wrestling must come natural to the 6′ 7″ athlete, he has only been wrestling for approximately the past 3 years! Under the tutelage of the incredible Brian Fury, Dijak certainly looks like he’s been doing this all his life. Training initially at the Killer Kowalski School and then New England Pro Wrestling, while juggling his full time job, Dijak has built up a loyal fan following at many independent and local promotions. Dijak continues to bring his talents to several great northeastern companies including Chaotic Wrestling, Lucky Pro Wrestling and Top Rope Promotions. At one point, Dijak held the CW World Championship belt for over 148 days while also having a hold on the tag team belt with partner Matt Taven.
Of course Dijak is now best known as the newest member of the formidable, heel stable, House of Truth, for Ring of Honor. First arriving on the ROH scene with a dramatic splash during Future of Honor 2, Dijak quickly made a definitive statement crushing Stokeley Hathaway only to be shut down later by the equally gigantic Moose. Since his debut, Dijak has gone on to win the 2015 Top Prospects Tournament defeating several other amazing talents such as Jake Dirden and Will Ferrara. Dijak has now joined the storied ranks of other former Top Prospect winners including Matt Taven, Hanson and Mike Bennett. Now that’s some good company! But only Dijak, used his win to immediately parlay a spot in arguably the most powerful group in ROH, the House of Truth.
Dijak is generally just an all around amazing wrestler, who despite his huge frame, manages to launch himself like a luchador all over the ring. He looks incredible whether wrestling the tiny Ferrara or taking on a man of his own size, Moose and his tag team work with Taven displays nicely his speed and timing. While Dijak could rely solely on being a strong man, he has a very diverse skill set that makes him exciting to watch as one never knows if he will employ his nifty back-breaker or moonsault out of the ring onto his opponents. Finally, Dijak is turning into a great heel casually interrupting matches to put over fellow stable mate Jay Lethal.
So there you have it, new kid on the block: Donovan Dijak. The football and basketball star, coach, scholar, youth case manager, wrestler. These waters run deep.
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