In an exclusive interview with PWMania.com, former WWE Superstar Donovan Dijak provided a firsthand account of WWE’s leadership transition in 2022, recalling his presence at Vince McMahon’s final Monday Night Raw before his initial retirement and Triple H’s first episode overseeing main roster creative.
Dijak also discussed attending the talent meeting where Triple H addressed the roster and explained the new leadership structure, as well as the differences in communication and creative collaboration he experienced during his WWE career. You can read the complete interview at this link.
Watch the full interview here:
Here are some highlights:
On witnessing the transition from Vince McMahon to Triple H in WWE:
“I was on Monday Night Raw for Vince’s last Monday Night Raw and I was there the next week for Hunter’s first Monday Night Raw. I was sitting in the front row when he walked into the talent meeting and was like, ‘Hey, I’m in charge now.’ And he didn’t say, ‘I’m in charge now,’ but it was that sort of Vince wants to retire and here’s who you should see this person for this and you should see me for this.”
On the differences in communication and creative collaboration under Triple H:
“It was a little bit easier with Hunter. Easier to talk to him. It felt like he was listening and being collaborative. At the end of the day, every booker, every writer is going to have their own vision, right? And my job isn’t to invade their process and be like, ‘No, do this instead.’ My job is to figure out what they want out of me and try to contribute to that thought process.”
On Triple H and Shawn Michaels being more transparent about creative plans:
“With Hunter, he was a lot more transparent. Shawn, too, a lot more transparent about like here’s what my vision is, here’s what we’re trying to get to. And then I could try to make little adjustments. And same with the other direction, right? I could bring them an idea, especially a match idea.”
On his knowledge of WWE’s current creative structure and TKO’s involvement:
“I don’t know how much oversight TKO contributes now or how much the board is influencing or whatever. I can only speak from an outsider perspective, and the short answer to that is I have no idea.”
During the interview, Dijak also discussed his WWE career, his memorable matches with Keith Lee, and his current run as PROGRESS Proteus Champion.You can check out the complete interview at this link:
If you use any portion of the quotes from this interview, please credit PWMania.com with a h/t to PWMania.com for the transcription.
