Positive Update on Ilja Dragunov’s WWE Return from a Torn ACL

Ilja Dragunov has been out with a torn ACL since September of last year. He has made significant recovery in the meantime and is training hard to return.

Positive Update on Ilja Dragunov’s WWE Return from a Torn ACL

Ilja Dragunov [via- Post Wrestling]

It has not been an easy road for Ilja Dragunov on the main roster. Having officially been called up to Raw in the 2024 WWE Draft, the Moscow-born grappler suffered a torn ACL injury in late September while wrestling his arch-rival Gunther during a live event. Consequently, Dragunov was sidelined for anywhere between 6 and 9 months.

As per Cory Hays of BodySlam, The Mad Dragon has been rehabbing multiple times a day to plot his in-ring return as soon as he can. Moreover, on the latest edition of WrestleVotes Q&A, it was learned that the 31-year-old was at the Performance Center almost six weeks ago. However, the outlet couldn’t clarify if Dragunov hit the ring or not.

It’s a common practice for wrestlers to report to the WWE PC to resume in-ring training for their return when they’ve significantly recovered from an injury. Dragunov, however, was at the state-of-the-art facility back in January too.

It resulted in false rumors about his potential surprise entry in this year’s Royal Rumble match. In late March, PWN reported that the tentative time period for comeback isn’t expected to fall before September.

As such, there’s still a long way to go if the aforementioned timeline were to be believed. A number of fans on social media are speculating that Dragunov could return as soon as next Monday on Raw as the mystery participant in the Sheamus vs. Rusev vs. “Big” Bronson Reed vs. TBD Fatal 4-Way first-round match in the King of the Ring tournament. However, that doesn’t seem plausible at all.

Is Gunther destined to face Ilja Dragunov on the main roster?

Whenever Ilja Dragunov does return to WWE programming, it might be a matter of time before he finds himself in the vicinity of Gunther. They’ve been feuding since their days before arriving in WWE. The erstwhile Walter once held the NXT UK Championship for 870 days, which, at the time, was the longest title reign of the modern era in WWE.

Gunther and Ilja Dragunov
Gunther and Ilja Dragunov [via- WWE]

That record was later broken by Roman Reigns with his gargantuan 1316-day reign with the world title. Circling back to who ended the then-Walter’s NXT UK title reign, it was none other than Dragunov. They wrestled a classic at NXT: TakeOver 36 in front of limited fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Had it been in an actual jam-packed arena, the roof would’ve gone off. Dragunov and Gunther have confronted each other on the main roster as well in a backstage segment where The Czar asserted that their rivalry is not over by any stretch. In the summer of 2024, they were frequently wrestling during house shows.

It appeared to many that WWE was finally testing the waters with their feud before kicking it off on TV. But unfortunately, Dragunov tore his ACL. Nonetheless, The Ring General is once again the World Heavyweight Champion, and he’d surely need someone as tenacious as The Mad Dragon to oppose him this time around.

Why does Ilja Dragunov’s family doesn’t like his wrestling style?

Ilja Dragunov is one of the most intense wrestlers on the current WWE roster. Years of his time in the ring have proved that he’s relentless and willing to risk it all. In an interview with Metro last year, The Mad Dragon revealed that his family hates his style of wrestling.

Ilja Dragunov
Ilja Dragunov on Raw [via- WWE]

The former NXT Champion said that his 8-year-old son had never seen any of his matches as of a few months ago. But Dragunov added that he understood it’s too much of an ask from a kid his son’s age to understand the ins and outs of the pro wrestling business.

I think my family hates my wrestling style. Literally, until this day, my son didn’t see one match of me……..

Ilja Dragunov via Metro

In that little span he had after being drafted to Raw, The Mad Dragon competed against the likes of Ricochet, Bron Breakker, and Jey Uso, to name a few. The fans crashed out when Dragunov lost to Uso in last year’s King of the Ring quarterfinals. It’d be interesting to see if WWE ever revisits their feud.

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