Much-Awaited US Title Match Set for WWE SmackDown Next Week
WWE United States Champion Ilja Dragunov is on an excellent run as champion currently and has had some amazing one-on-one matches during his US Title Open Challenge.
He has been carrying on the tradition that Sami Zayn restarted during his time as champion and has faced some young and exciting stars. He wrestled Carmelo Hayes tonight and came away with the win.
However, it wasn’t something that Dragunov quite achieved on his own and it seemed to anger the champion. Tommaso Ciampa interfered in Dragunov’s match, and caused Melo to lose his shot at the title and that didn’t sit right with the champion.
Tommaso Ciampa will finally challenge for the WWE United States Championship
One-half of DIY, Ciampa, has been trying to answer Dragunov’s United States Open Challenge for weeks now but hasn’t been able to challenge for the belt as Dragunov didn’t want to reward Ciampa with a title match as he’s not a fan of th wrestler.
He had been overlooked for Nathan Frazer, Axiom, and Carmelo Hayes, which angered Ciampa and he decided to take matters into his own hands. Following his intereference in Dragunov’s match, the Unberseinger went up to Nick Aldis to demand the match.
JUST ANNOUNCED – Tommaso Ciampa will answer Ilja Dragunov's US Title Open Challenge next week on SmackDown pic.twitter.com/9VTGIF5bdy
— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) December 6, 2025
Aldis hadn’t made the match official in these last few weeks as the final decision in a open challenge lied with the champion and once Dragunov himself asked for the match, it was made official for next week’s episode of WWE SmackDown.
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