A former United States Champion and recent AEW signee has addressed his stunning exit from WWE.
One of the top stories in WWE this year has been the large number of superstar departures. Since April, WWE has parted ways with more than three dozen superstars, including the New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods), Kairi Sane, Sheamus, Apollo Crews, the Wyatt Sicks, Aleister Black and Zelina Vega.
In August, news broke that former United States Champion Ilja Dragunov also left WWE following the expiration of his contract. After weeks of speculation, Dragunov debuted for AEW during Saturday’s WrestleDream pay-per-view.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show (h/t F4WOnline.com), Dragunov said that various factors played into his decision to leave WWE, including the chance to explore a new chapter.
“It was an accumulation of a lot of things,” Dragunov said. “An accumulation of, of course, the offering, because we all know, at the end of the day, it’s the business. But it’s also definitely based on my feeling of, like, how do I want to work creatively? Do I need a scenery change? Is the scenery change something where I can see myself staying forever?
“Because you’ve got to consider a lot of factors. Like, I spent the most of my 20s in WWE. That’s a very, very long time. And the landscape in this beautiful business changed. So the beautiful thing is nowadays we have other opportunities. And for me personally, after such a long time being with a company, to not seek out new opportunities, maybe a place where I see myself more fitting — who wouldn’t do that?”
Dragunov was asked if WWE’s final contract offer featured a raise or a pay cut (New Day and Sheamus both turned down restructured deals that included giant pay cuts), but he declined to get into details, only saying it wasn’t “satisfying” enough.
Ilja Dragunov Won Three Championships in WWE
(Photo by Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images)
Over his seven years in WWE, the 33-year-old Dragunov won three championships: The United States Championship, the NXT Championship and the NXT United Kingdom Championship.
Dragunov’s United States Championship reign spanned 70 days, ending at the hands of Carmelo Hayes on the Dec. 26, 2025, episode of SmackDown.
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