WWE has announced an injury to former NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov that will likely keep him out of action for the rest of the year as well as the WrestleMania season next year.
On Monday’s episode of Raw, the company aired footage of the 30-year-old facing the World Heavyweight Champion Gunther in a match at this past Saturday’s house show from Columbus, Georgia.
In the commentary, they noted that Dragunov is suspected to have suffered a torn ACL and the medical team believes that he will be out of action for 6 to 9 months:
Ilja Dragunov In WWE
Ilja Dragunov had a successful run in WWE developmental. He started in NXT UK in January 2019 and has the credit of ending Gunther’s 2 year-long reign with the NXT UK Championship at NXT: Takeover 36 in August 2021.
He had to relinquish the title after 346 days due to a leg injury in July 2022. Dragunov joined the main NXT brand after returning from injury where he had a 200+ days run with the NXT title.
The former champion was finally called up to the main roster during the 2024 Drafts. He has competed in the King of The Ring tournament and also unsuccessfully challenged Sami Zayn for the IC title since then.
A minimum of 6 months recovery time means Dragunov will not be ring-ready until April at least. That implies he’ll be absent for the whole WrestleMania 41 season, with a high potential of missing the Show of Shows as well.
SEScoops wishes a speedy recovery to Ilja Dragunov
