Ilja Dragunov Update Amid WWE Hiatus
Reports have emerged on the status of former WWE United States Champion Ilja Dragunov.
‘The Mad Dragon’ is healthy and back in training, but a new backstage report suggests WWE still has no clear plans for him. The former NXT Champion has been absent from WWE television for months, and the latest update points to creative limbo rather than an injury problem.
As per Fightful Select, Dragunov has recently been training at Nattie Neidhart and TJ Wilson’s Dungeon facility. Responding to a fan question during a Q&A, Sean Ross Sapp said he has not heard anything about Dragunov dealing with an injury and noted that the wrestler likely would not be working out at the Dungeon if he were not cleared.
Sapp then added that things have been quiet on Dragunov’s status, and that he has not heard of any upcoming WWE creative plans involving the former champion.
Dragunov last appeared on WWE television on SmackDown before WrestleMania 42, competing in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. He has remained off programming ever since, and he was also left off the WrestleMania card entirely.
That absence has left fans wondering when he will return and what role the promotion might have for him. With no announced storyline and no injury report, the situation reads as an unexplained gap rather than a recovery timeline.
Dragunov is a former United States Champion who lost the title to Carmelo Hayes. His earlier run included a SmackDown return that saw him capture the United States Championship.
Trick Williams is now the reigning United States Champion. Whenever Dragunov does return to WWE television, it remains to be seen whether he steps back into the United States title picture.
