Ilja Dragunov’s AEW debut came down to the wire in a much bigger way than fans realized. Tony Khan says that when AEW aired its first mysterious vignette on Wednesday, he still didn’t know for sure whether Dragunov would even be able to appear at WrestleDream.
Speaking during the post-AEW WrestleDream media scrum, Khan explained that Dragunov’s visa process created plenty of uncertainty behind the scenes. In fact, AEW didn’t get the news it needed until Wednesday night while Dynamite and Collision were already being broadcast live.
“It’s something I’ve been looking forward to. Thanks to the process — it can be an incredible process of acquiring a visa — and it’s something that I wasn’t sure until this Wednesday night, during a live broadcast, that I was able to bring you.”
That makes the timing of AEW’s mysterious vignettes a lot more interesting. Fans saw the first orchestra-themed tease on Wednesday, but Khan revealed that the company didn’t actually know Dragunov would be able to pick up his visa until the show was already underway.
“Some people asked about the timing of the vignettes that suggested your arrival at WrestleDream on Wednesday and then having a second vignette on Friday. Well, there’s a lot of uncertainty in wrestling. On Wednesday night, in the middle of the show, at 2 AM your time, we got the message that Ilja was able to pick up the visa the next day, and we found that out during the live broadcast.”
AEW had already filmed the vignette because the company hoped Dragunov would be available for WrestleDream. Khan wasn’t willing to fully commit to advertising his arrival, however, until they knew the visa situation had actually been handled.
“And that’s why I didn’t run the vignette — because I didn’t want to falsely advertise under the false assumption until you knew you would be there. We filmed the vignette thinking initially, just in case you were able to be there at the pay-per-view, we would start the build until you were here.”
Thankfully for AEW, everything came together in time. Khan said Dragunov’s visa situation was resolved a few days ahead of schedule, allowing the company to move forward with the WrestleDream debut.
“Thankfully, it happened a few days ahead of schedule. It was a heads-up by you. Welcome to AEW.”
Dragunov ultimately made his surprise appearance during WrestleDream on October 17, with Renee Paquette introducing him before he stepped into the ring and soaked in the reaction. He didn’t wrestle or cut a promo, but the announcers made it clear that the former WWE star was officially All Elite.
Dragunov had been a free agent since his WWE contract expired in August, but his visa situation kept AEW from knowing exactly when it could finally bring him in. As Khan has now revealed, the company was still waiting for that answer while its live television show was already on the air just three days before WrestleDream.
So what looked like a carefully timed series of mysterious vignettes was actually happening with plenty of uncertainty behind the scenes. AEW got the visa news it needed at virtually the last minute, and that finally allowed Dragunov’s WrestleDream arrival to become a reality.
What do you think about how close Ilja Dragunov’s WrestleDream debut came to being held up by his visa situation? Let us know in the comments below.
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