10 Times Wrestling Feuds Crossed Over Promotions
7. Keith Lee Vs. Dominik Dijakovic
In contrast to that, WWE's adaptation of the Keith Lee Vs. Dominik Dijakovic feud was exponentially less artful.
Lee and Donovan Dijak, in an inspired premise, each realised that they were giants in a world of kickpad-clad workrate guys capable of executing the same jaw-dropping athletic feats. Their signature high spot hoss fight match fused two entirely different, incongruous spectacles in exhilarating, improbable attractions across Northeast Wrestling and EVOLVE. It was like hearing bars spat over riffs for the first time all over again.
Their peers were pissed at PWG BOLA 2017; their anything-you-can-do flex extended to - and overshadowed - the entire locker room. The thing is, this wasn't a sprawling, emotive saga. It was a match more than it was a story, an easy sell for a promoter more than anything substantive, and in 2019 NXT failed to tell one - and, in an indictment of the process, continued to tell it regardless.
They were opponents that complemented one another. That was it.
And in a further indictment, the NXT matches weren't quite the same: the mandated limb work and transitions normalised the madcap innovation.