Ilja Dragunov has heard MJF’s shot at his AEW debut, and he’s not exactly rushing to fire back. After MJF mocked his elaborate WrestleDream entrance and called him a “Russian/German loser,” Dragunov made it pretty clear he doesn’t consider MJF’s words important enough to worry about.
Speaking on the Battleground Podcast, Dragunov was discussing his upcoming first AEW match on Dynamite when MJF’s comments came up. The interviewer asked Dragunov what he’d like to say back to MJF, and his answer was about as dismissive as it gets.
“Nothing.”
The interviewer tried to get a little more out of him, but Dragunov wasn’t interested in turning it into some big war of words. As far as he’s concerned, there are more important problems to worry about.
“Come on. Like, please. I’m Russian-German. We handle problems of relevance.”
MJF started the whole thing after WrestleDream, when he posted his not-so-glowing review of AEW’s latest pay-per-view. Along with ripping AEW World Champion Will Ospreay, MJF took aim at Dragunov’s orchestra-themed presentation.
“Russian/german loser debuts by pretending he’s a ‘composer’…cool.”
Dragunov clearly isn’t bothered. When the Battleground hosts joked about what MJF might be getting himself into by messing with him, Dragunov started running through the kind of punishment he’s much more interested in handing out.
“No — chops and elbows and boots and throws and… come on. Like, I handle problems of relevance.”
That pretty much sums up Dragunov’s attitude toward the whole thing. If MJF wants to throw insults around online, Dragunov doesn’t sound like he’s planning to spend much time trading them back. Dragunov then explained that his reaction also comes from the culture he grew up in. He said words simply aren’t something that easily get under his skin, especially after everything he’s already dealt with throughout his life and career.
“And especially in Russian culture, we talk about things with depth, but we do not get hurt by words. If I got hurt more by words, I wouldn’t be sitting here nowadays. So, please, come on.”
MJF may have been looking for a reaction when he mocked Dragunov’s WrestleDream debut, but he definitely didn’t get much of one here. Dragunov seems far more interested in throwing chops, elbows, boots and bodies than getting dragged into a social media argument.
What do you think about Ilja Dragunov completely brushing off MJF’s shot at his AEW debut? Let us know in the comments below.
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.
