The extremely talented Ilja Dragunov will exit the WWE after his contract expired this week, according to PWInsider's Mike Johnson, the most accurate reporter of wrestling news in the industry. There's speculation that WWE would've re-signed the Moscow native, but he opted to allow his deal to expire since the writing team had nothing for him after his last on-screen appearance on Smackdown in April.
First, it should be noted that if the creative team doesn't have anything for someone of the caliber of Dragunov, especially with the modern presentation of the product, that says more about their lack of ability to script the shows than it does of his skills. That being said, the circumstances of this departure follow somewhat of a pattern for the European grappler throughout much of his association with WWE.
For whatever reason, timing or circumstances beyond his control kept him from truly finding a fit within the TKO corporation.
When the European indies were drawing big crowds and thus making legitimate money during the mid-2010s, the WWE took notice. If there was serious money to be made in the market, the company was going to use its media muscle to get a piece of the pie. Instead of risking any discontent with the audience there, the WWE established working agreements with Progress, ICW, and other more local leagues, with the initiative for more exposure for the region rather than an American takeover.
When NXT UK was officially announced in 2018, there was a lot of sizzle behind it, because the notion that those stars could also work with the previously mentioned established groups gave the impression that the European scene would have its biggest international platform in its history through the WWE Network.
Of course, Ilja Dragunov was one of the featured stars.
Who knows if it would've been possible for the WWE to truly get an NXT UK brand off the ground? I have my doubts, if for no other reason than the logistics and travel involved that would make it expensive, or outright cost prohibitive. Sure, the NFL is going to import more games outside of the domestic market this season, and there are rumors of a potential expansion team down the road, but even one team isn't the same as an entire league or "brand" in the case of WWE. They tried NFL European in a few different forms for several years, but it never gained any serious traction. You don't need NFL Lite if you can get the NFL. In that respect, I'm not sure TKO, would've made the investment to put a complete set up in England for NXT UK to seriously be able to run as its own project, nor am I sure the market would be able to sustain the project on a long-term basis that would justify that type of investment from WWE.
Keep in mind, for the WWE to plant its on flag with an England-based organization, you're not just talking about putting the talent on contracts, there are the office staff, the marketing team, and the cost of venues. That's where the NFL Europe comparison applies, if TKO gave London its own full-fledged WWE promotion, it could theoretically take away the draw of Raw, Smackdown, and the pay-per-views. We've seen how lucrative that part of the globe has been as a part of TKO's international expansion. Furthermore, if a talent got majorly over on a British brand to that point that the office thought they could be a star on the global level, they would've been shifted to Raw or Smackdown to maximize their potential so there would be an unintentional ceiling on the regional project.
Unfortunately, the prospects of NXT UK were moot, as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the brand, and the majority of that roster, which consisted of the top guys from the European independent scene, were either moved to the domestic brands or released by 2022. Dragunov had an absolutely incredible match with Gunther at one of the closed tapings in NXT UK, but after an injury, he debuted in America in September of 2022.
The European brand suited his persona and his style, and despite the success of an NXT title run, and eventually a stint as US champion on Smackdown after a torn ACL that required surgery put him on the shelf for almost a year, it just seems like Dragunov never really found his place among the WWE landscape. As simplistic as it might sound, maybe Dragunov wasn't "sports entertainment enough" for the biggest sports entertainment company in the world. Don't get me wrong, he's a tremendous professional wrestler, and could still be an asset to the WWE roster, but his style is so centric to an almost niche presentation of the genre that it's not automatic that he would connect with the casual WWE fan. Billy Bob wearing the John Deer hat isn't going to be able to easily identify with the catch-as-catch-can grappling style, and neither will the younger demographic that tune into the pay-per-views to see what Logan Paul or IShowSpeed are doing. That's not a knock on Dragunov either, some guys just aren't as suited to the WWE format, and it's not a new notion either. Stan Hansen, Dynamite Kid, and Abdullah The Butcher weren't in their heyday. Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay, and Nick Gage probably wouldn't today.
For Ilja Dragunov, his in-ring work wasn't going to be a question, he had quality performances his entire WWE run, but if the writing team didn't think his character was going to connect with the audience then that might explain why he was under the radar in recent months, even if they should've found something for him on the shows.
At 32, Dragunov is still in the prime of his career, and if the office didn't have plans for him, it's easy to see why he would at least test the waters of free agency instead of signing a new contract to wait in catering to see if or when management had a direction for him.
It goes without saying that All Elite Wrestling will be the place that most will expect him to land, mostly because it's where he can earn comparative money to what he was presumably making in WWE, and truth be told, since his deal expired, allowing him to work anywhere immediately, rather than being released, which would've put him under the standard 90-day no compete clause, chances are he will show up at All In next weekend. Still, beyond the artificial debut pop, and it would be massive in London, there's no reason to believe that Tony Khan would know what to do with him any more than the WWE writing team did. Sure, Tony would be the matchmaker to put him in the ring with Omega, Fletcher, and Ospreay. Dave Meltzer might give each of those bouts 85 stars, but beyond that, would Tony Khan be able to make Dragunov a bigger star? Will Ilja Dragunov become more well known or lost in the shuffle in AEW?
That's why my two cents on the matter would be for Dragunov to ink a deal with New Japan Pro Wrestling, as the organization looks to rebuild itself after the recent sale to Cyber Agent. Granted, it's less money than he would probably be offered in the United States, but the organization is much more suited to his style, and given his tenure in WWE, he would get the chance to get a solid push in the Japanese league. Dragunov would not only be well suited there, but taking into account that he's still young, he could completely rejuvenate his career there to be able to return to the United States with a boosted market value in a few years.
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