Ilja Dragunov Sends Chilling Message After Winning U.S. Title
Ilja Dragunov could not have expected a better return to WWE.
The 32-year-old was out of action for over a year after tearing his ACL during a live event.
In his first match of 2025, Dragunov answered Sami Zayn’s United States Championship open challenge on the October 17 taping of SmackDown.
Both men fought valiantly, landing hard-hitting shots at each other, but ultimately, it was Dragunov’s H-Bomb that proved too much for Zayn to kick out of.
Soon after the match, the newly-crowned champion took to X to share a photo of himself with the gold, captioning it, ‘Pain shall entertain you.’
The Mad Dragon repeated the same four words in a new chilling video shared on the WWE social media accounts.
It’s been such a long year, and nobody understands how I feel sitting on the sidelines for a year, waiting and hoping and training to come back better, better than anybody else. More ruthless, more ambitious, fearless, more courage…all these things and everything that I accomplished over this year, this is a symbol of it—me, as a United States Champion.
So, one thing is so clear to me right now. I got a very, very clear message to everyone who is coming for this. My dear friends, and my dear enemies, if you step with me into the ring, pain shall entertain you.
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WWE Officially Moves Ilja Dragunov To SmackDown
After being promoted from NXT to WWE’s main roster, Ilja Dragunov was assigned the RAW roster.
In his first match on the red brand last year, he competed in a King of the Ring Tournament, defeating Ricochet in the first round. He lost in the quarter-finals to Jey Uso.
He subsequently wrestled in several matches on RAW, even competing for the Intercontinental Championship. During a couple of house shows, he challenged then-World Heavyweight Champion Gunther for the title.
After his latest win, WWE has confirmed Ilja Dragunov as a member of SmackDown. It, however, remains to be seen if he will continue with the United States Championship open challenge.
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