Ilja Dragunov may have one hell of a place waiting for him if his expected move to AEW actually comes together. With AEW heading to Paris for the first time on October 6, Dave Meltzer is now floating the possibility that the former WWE star could make his debut there — on the same Tuesday night AEW will be going head-to-head with WWE NXT.
The speculation comes after Dragunov’s AEW future suddenly started looking a lot more serious. Ringside News previously covered how Dragunov is set to join AEW barring unforeseen circumstances, although a signed deal had not been confirmed. Tony Khan had also already opened the door by calling Dragunov a “tremendous wrestler” when asked about him following his WWE exit. Khan stopped short of confirming talks at the time.
During Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez brought up how obvious an AEW move was beginning to look. Meltzer agreed and pointed to Dragunov’s girlfriend being at a recent Ring of Honor taping before explaining why he thinks AEW would make plenty of sense.
“If you’re Ilia Dragunov and you’re leaving WWE and, and you’re, you’re not, you know, you’re not leaving to retire and you’re not leaving to go to New Japan Pro Wrestling… he’s an exceptional wrestler, you know, and, and he’s a unique wrestler.”
Meltzer made it clear that he views Dragunov as the kind of talent AEW shouldn’t have to think very hard about signing if the money makes sense.
“If he’s available and the price is within reason, I mean, it’s like, it’s a no brainer.”
That’s where things got really interesting. Meltzer stressed that he does not know exactly when Dragunov would start with AEW, but he immediately brought up the company’s upcoming Grand Slam: France show in Paris as one possibility.
“Don’t know when he starts, you know, I mean, they’re running Paris in a couple of weeks. It’s a possibility there.”
And if AEW wanted to make some noise with Dragunov’s first appearance, the timing couldn’t be much more interesting. Grand Slam: France takes place Tuesday, October 6 at Adidas Arena in Paris, marking AEW’s first live event in France and putting the company on Tuesday night opposite WWE NXT. Meltzer pointed that out himself while discussing why he expects AEW to load up the card.
“Paris show. By the way, they’re doing Paris on a Tuesday. And so they’re going head to head with NXT. I think it’s the first Tuesday of October, so we’re only a couple of weeks away.”
He also believes Paris has the ingredients for one of those wild European wrestling crowds, and Dragunov’s history in Germany and Austria makes the idea of introducing him there pretty easy to imagine.
“Paris is going to sell out, so that’s going to be a big success. And plus, you know, Paris, at least for WWE and for MMA, I mean, the Paris crowds are really, really hot… I’m gonna guess that he really loads up the show. So I could see that where. I could see that in Europe, you know, where they debut since, you know, he started in Germany and Austria.”
Nothing about Dragunov debuting in Paris is locked in right now, but AEW couldn’t have drawn up a much nastier stage if it wanted to make his arrival feel huge. First AEW show in France, a loaded European crowd and a Tuesday-night fight with NXT would give Tony Khan one hell of a night to finally unleash Dragunov.
Do you think AEW should save Ilja Dragunov’s debut for Grand Slam: France, or would you bring him in before Paris? Let us know what you think and leave your feedback in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
