Ilja Dragunov discusses WWE exit, Gunther booking and Brock Lesnar Royal Rumble exchange
Ilja Dragunov told Ariel Helwani on The Ariel Helwani Show on October 20, after making his AEW debut at WrestleDream 2026, that his WWE contract expired and negotiations did not produce a reason for him to stay, and he addressed Gunther’s booking and his Royal Rumble exchange with Brock Lesnar.
Dragunov spent seven years with WWE, winning the NXT Championship, the NXT United Kingdom Championship and the NXT Tag Team Championship while building a reputation for intense, technical work. He said his departure followed an inability to agree terms he found satisfying and concerns about the creative direction of his character after title runs. “There was no intention of the company to let me go. It was an accumulation of a lot of things. Of course, the offering, because we all know at the end of the day, it’s a business. But also, it’s definitely based on my feeling of how I want to work creatively. I spent most of my twenties in WWE. That’s a very, very long time, and the landscape in this beautiful business changed. Everything I knew is that the expiration of my contract came and the negotiations didn’t lead anywhere. There was nothing that I felt satisfying. Nothing that gave me the perspective of, ‘Oo, I must stick with what I have here.’ I had a gut feeling. I think things will work out for me, that I can bet on myself. Change always requires guts. It requires courage. It requires dealing with the possibility that things could not work out your way. It all came down to betting on myself and believing it’s going to be all right.”
He recalled winning the United States Championship in October 2025 after returning from an ACL injury and said he was disappointed by how storylines progressed after he lost the belt. “After I dropped the belt, things kind of went in directions where I felt like, ok, it could have been better. There could have been more time to go into a story, into something that is outside of just holding a championship, captivating for the people.” Despite those frustrations, Dragunov said he continued to give his best in the ring and maintained his work ethic and passion for performing.
Describing his arrival in AEW, Dragunov said the move felt like a “fairy tale” because the promotion made him feel welcomed and he could again hear his entrance music. He confirmed the signing during his WrestleDream 2026 appearance and framed the new start as a chance to reset creatively after his WWE contract ran its course.
Reflecting on his NXT UK feud with Gunther, Dragunov said those matches were among the most highly regarded of his career and offered praise for his former rival’s abilities. He also voiced concern about Gunther’s recent presentation in WWE and said: “I guess my feelings [are] the same feeling as a lot of other people share. If you are the person to retire John Cena, it’s kind of like a standard that you should keep a certain level of that, in my opinion. For me, he is one of the best. He will be one of the best of all time.”
On the 2026 Royal Rumble in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Dragunov described his in-ring sequence with Brock Lesnar, saying Lesnar largely no-sold his chops until Dragunov shouted and eliminated him. He acknowledged some fans were unhappy with the segment’s execution but defended his performance and approach to storytelling, adding, “My best career moments were made by my vulnerability.” He said he could not change how the segment played out and viewed such moments as opportunities to tell stories.
Dragunov was introduced at WrestleDream 2026 as AEW’s newest signing, and he is scheduled to make his in-ring debut on the October 21, 2026 episode of AEW Dynamite against “Speedball” Mike Bailey.