Injured Star Returns At NXT 2.0 Tapings [SPOILER]

An injured WWE Superstar made their return during the tapings for NXT 2.0, indicating that they’ve made the jump from NXT UK to its North American twin brand!

Ilja Dragunov is back on WWE programming.

The former United Kingdom Champion returned from his injury during the tapings for NXT 2.0 on 14 September, with the episode due to air next Tuesday (20 September). Reports, as per WrestlingNews.co, state that Dragunov confronted JD McDonagh and Bron Breakker, following the former’s victory over Tyler Bate.

This marked Ilja Dragunov’s first televised appearance since he was forced to vacate the aforementioned Championship on the titular brand’s 4 August broadcast. He alleged that he had severely injured his ankle in a defence vs. Wolfgang, though given his speedy recovery, you have to question the legitimacy of this injury.

His return to NXT 2.0 marks Ilja save from WWE cuts amidst the closure of its United Kingdom branch. A number of the brand’s performers were released from the company on the day of its closure. Those not released have either been brought over to North America or have their status lingering in the air.

Ilja Dragunov has wrestled for the American-based NXT before, facing both Pete Dunne and Roderick Strong ahead of his title clash with WALTER at in August 2021. He lifted the title from ‘The Ring General’ that night in a shocking submission win over the Austrian behemoth.