Ilja Dragunov didn’t just walk away from WWE when his contract expired. WWE apparently stopped putting him on television once it became clear he wasn’t sticking around, and now we know more about what went down behind the scenes.
During the October 18 edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer broke down Dragunov’s WWE exit following his AEW debut at WrestleDream on October 17. Meltzer explained that Dragunov wasn’t fired or pushed out of the company. He made the decision to let his contract run out, even though WWE wanted him to stay. Meltzer compared the situation to Ricochet’s exit, explaining that both men left WWE on their own terms rather than being released.
“Ricochet and Ilya, they left on their own. You know, I mean, they wait for their contract to expire. They want, you know, they, you know, Ricochet, I can’t say he wanted out. He was debating it, but they kind of knew that, look, he wouldn’t sign a new deal.”
Things got interesting when Meltzer explained what WWE did after Dragunov refused to sign. Instead of continuing to feature him on television until his deal expired, the company decided to keep him off TV altogether.
“And Ely is the same way, Eli. They kept off TV because they wanted him to sign a new deal and he would not sign the new deal. And they figured did it like, look, look, he’s not signing the new deal. We’re not gonna put him on TV because it may mean that he can go if he won’t sign the new deal.”
Meltzer also pointed out that Dragunov’s exit was different from some of the former WWE stars who ended up in AEW after being released. He claimed several of those wrestlers wanted to return to WWE once Triple H took over creative from Vince McMahon, but their AEW contracts prevented them from making an immediate move.
“In the case of some of those guys, it was Vince McMahon’s decision. And then Vince is out and Levesque is in. And Levesque did want them back immediately, you know, Swerve included. And you know, Swerve said no and the rest of them said yes, but they couldn’t get out of their deals.”
Dragunov didn’t have that problem. He let his WWE deal expire and eventually signed with AEW, although getting him onto television came down to the wire. Meltzer revealed that visa issues tied to Dragunov’s previous WWE employment nearly delayed his arrival. AEW already had his debut vignette ready, but Tony Khan’s company wasn’t about to air it without knowing whether Dragunov could actually appear at WrestleDream.
“They had the vignette ready and they knew it was going to be any day now, but they didn’t want to put it on if he wasn’t going to be at the pay per view. I mean, the plan and the hope absolutely was for him to be on the pay per view.”
Dragunov eventually got his visa situation sorted out and made his AEW debut as planned. So WWE wanted Dragunov to stay, Dragunov wouldn’t sign, and WWE decided to stop using him on television. Now he’s working for the competition, and the same guy WWE kept off its shows is getting a fresh start in AEW.
Do you think WWE made the right call by keeping Ilja Dragunov off television once he refused a new contract, or should the company have continued using him until he left? Drop your thoughts 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.
