Donovan Dijak has looked back on his heated online exchange with Kenny Omega from 2019, shedding new light on what was going on behind the scenes at the time.

The disagreement stemmed from comments Omega made during an episode of Being The Elite, where he suggested that All Elite Wrestling was built around showcasing top level talent, in contrast to WWE NXT, which was still seen by some as developmental.

Speaking on Fightful’s In The Weeds podcast, Dijak revisited that period and recalled the atmosphere at the Performance Center. He explained that several coaches backed him when he pushed back publicly against Omega’s remarks, as he felt a strong need to defend the NXT roster.

“A handful of coaches at the PC told me they respected that I stood up for us, because that was genuinely how I felt at the time. Looking back, I barely even remember the exact article. For those unfamiliar, there was something said and, in hindsight, he may have been playing a character, but I can’t say for sure. It was a very intense time, and he made a comment along the lines of everyone in NXT being a midcarder in AEW. I’m paraphrasing, but hearing that while being part of that roster, it felt like a shot at us, so I responded.”

Dijak admitted he never found out whether Omega took the exchange seriously, noting that their interactions had been limited even before the situation unfolded. He also acknowledged that the wrestling landscape at the time encouraged that kind of back and forth.

“I don’t know if he took it personally, and I don’t know if he meant what he said in a personal way either. We’ve never spoken about it, and we’d only crossed paths a couple of times before that. It was a period where people from both sides were taking shots. At that stage in my career, I didn’t mind adding fuel to the fire. I’ve said many times that I believe Kenny Omega is one of the best wrestlers in the world, and I still stand by that.”

He also pointed out the irony that many performers from the NXT black and gold era have since appeared in AEW, which changes the context of that original criticism.

“My frustration came from feeling like our group was being targeted. Ironically, now, a huge portion of that roster has either worked for AEW or is there now. So it probably doesn’t matter to anyone anymore. But that’s wrestling. You take something that has a bit of reality behind it and you run with it. That’s just how things were back then.”

The rivalry between AEW and NXT intensified in 2019 when AEW Dynamite launched as a weekly series, going head to head with NXT on Wednesday nights and fuelling competition between the two brands.

Dijak went on to remain with WWE for several more years before being released in 2024 after a seven year run. Since then, he has stayed active on the independent scene, competing for promotions including Major League Wrestling, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, and WXM.