AEW’s mystery vignette from this week’s television wasn’t just some random tease. The company has reportedly been setting the stage for a major new arrival, and we now know exactly who the whole orchestra act was meant for.
According to Fightful Select, the mystery vignette was for Ilja Dragunov. The former WWE star has already signed with AEW, with the company working to get his visa situation sorted out before moving forward with his arrival.
“If you couldn’t guess, the ‘mystery vignette’ on AEW was for Ilja. He’s been signed and they were getting his visa situation rectified.”
This comes after AEW dropped a cryptic 22-second video during the October 14 three-hour Dynamite and Collision. The vignette featured a well-dressed man conducting an orchestra, a metronome sitting on a wrestling mat, someone running around a ring and the mystery figure walking down a set of steps.
Back on September 26, it was reported that Dragunov was coming to AEW, although even top stars within the company didn’t know exactly when he’d appear. AEW already had materials prepared for him at that point, but there was one thing holding everything up. Dragunov became immediately available after choosing not to renew his WWE contract when it expired in August. We then reported that he’d signed with AEW and was expected to begin with the company “very soon.”
Now AEW has finally started teasing him where it counts, on television. There’s still no confirmed date for Dragunov to actually walk through the curtain, but after that vignette, it certainly looks like AEW wants fans ready for him.
Who did you think was behind AEW’s mystery vignette before the identity was revealed? Let us know in the comments below.
