Major Championship Successfully Defended On WWE SmackDown

WWE United States Champion Ilja Dragunov has been on a spectacular run as champion since winning the belt from Sami Zayn on his return from injury. Since winning the title, he has continued the US Title Open Challenge that Sami reintroduced.

During his time as champion, Dragunov has had some amazing matches with the likes of JD McDonagh, Nathan Frazier, Axiom, and Aleister Black, and had another exciting match tonight.

After failing to advance in the ‘Last Time is Now’ tournament despite a valiant effort against Gunther, Carmelo Hayes decided to turn his attention towards gold tonight as he answered Dragunov’s challenge.

Ilja Dragunov retains his WWE United States Championship once again

Carmelo Hayes put in some of his best performances against both Bronson Reed and Gunther in the tournament and put in a similar performance tonight against Dragunov. Despite being battered by the champion on various occasions, he showed his resilience and mounted comebacks throughout the match.

Dragunov dominated the majority of the match via some of his trademark strikes in what was an extremely physical match for both wrestlers. However, things turned sour for Melo just when it seemed he may win the title.

Carmelo Hayes is ROLLING! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HMc5mpqt4g

— WWE (@WWE) December 6, 2025

He went on the top rope to hit the Nothing But Net, but just when the referee was checking on Dragunov, Tommaso Ciampa interfered and caused Melo to fall down from the turnbuckle. Unaware of what had transpired, Dragunov hit Melo with a flying headbutt and followed it up with the H-Bomb for the win.

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