Major League Wrestling star Donovan Dijak has described his appearance at Banger Zone Wrestling's Watermania as the most unusual experience of his professional career, saying the event lived up to the viral clips that first caught his attention on social media.
Banger Zone Wrestling, a European promotion, staged Watermania at an aquatics center in France, setting up a wrestling ring inside a swimming pool. Video from the event showed performers slipping across the soaked canvas and taking bumps into the water, with one clip of the ring tilting and then righting itself circulating widely online.
Dijak said the promotion contacted him to ask whether he would be interested in taking part. He had already seen footage of the concept and called it the «craziest thing» he had ever seen. When he learned Banger Zone planned another show, he made the schedule work despite an existing booking with Progress Wrestling, explaining that he did not want to be on his «deathbed» regretting a missed opportunity.
«As I was watching the show and watching them put together the ring, I was like this is surreal, so much so that like just as a fan I started recording clips and the viral clip that everybody saw of the ring kind of tilting and coming back up was me,» Dijak said. «I recorded that just as a fan, and then 20 minutes later I was wrestling in the ring, which I'm going to be honest, I'm always honest, did not feel safe because it was sopping wet.»
He said the conditions shaped his approach to the match. Rather than rely on standard holds that could be performed in any ring on any weekend, Dijak focused on moves that used the water, including a chokeslam into the pool and a moonsault off the top rope. He said he and his opponent, Scar, also brawled around the pool area, with Scar at one point appearing to drown him.
«When am I ever going to be able to chokeslam someone in off the top rope to the floor, basically into a pool that explodes with water and then moonsault into a pool. Never ever again, right?» he said. «I knew I wanted to get out of that scenario, and we got so many incredible moments and incredible clips from that match.»
Dijak acknowledged the risks inherent in the stunt, noting that a wet ring positioned over a pool is inherently slippery. He said the performers understood the danger going in, but that once inside the ropes the priority became reaching the water quickly. He described the event as a once-in-a-lifetime experience and said he would probably do it again if the opportunity arose, though he would not go out of his way to pursue it a second time.
He also said he hopes to wrestle Scar again in the future.
Dijak currently competes as one half of the tag team The Skyscrapers. The duo held the tag team championships for nearly a year before losing the belts to the Good Brothers. The Skyscrapers can be seen in the ring on «Fusion,» which airs on Tubi, Veeps and YouTube.