Ilja Dragunov is just not an in a single day success. In a profession that has spanned almost a decade, Dragunov involves the ring with an depth. An depth that hasn’t been seen within the WWE for a lot of a yr.
Whereas many could confuse his measurement as a guise for expertise with nice coronary heart, it isn’t a good evaluation of him as an athlete. Skilled by former WWE and NXT expertise Alexander Wolfe & Rick Baxxter, Dragunov has labored onerous to be the place he’s at this time.
The story of Ilja Dragunov isn’t a story like everybody else. Born Ilja Rukober, Dragunov was born in Moscow, Russia, and would immigrate to Germany together with his mom when he was solely 5 years of age.
With no means to talk the language, Dragunov and his mom would construct a life for themselves of their new residence. He by no means initially had aspirations of changing into a wrestler.
His rapid precedence was to assist his household when he was of sufficiently old. Working jobs in a fuel station or pizza restaurant to easily present or his household.
As he would develop, he would construct a household. He got here from nothing to change into one thing. In his personal phrases, changing into a wrestler was by no means his life’s calling from a younger age however was considerably completely different.
‘It was kind of an accident. Mainly, every little thing I do in my life, whether or not it’s professionally or regarding my household, no matter I start, every little thing that fuels me with ardour, its what I’ll be invested in long-term.
So wrestling got here into my life – I don’t really feel like I selected wrestling, wrestling selected me – and once I had realized that, I believed, “Okay, it’s what I get pleasure from, that’s what fuels me, that awakens one thing inside me.”
So to me, there was no different choice than investing every little thing into it. That’s all I can do.”
From actually nothing, Dragunov grew to become a husband and a father. Every day that handed offered him with new and completely different alternatives for professionally. By his personal admission, wrestling to him is all about emotion.
To see him compete, it’s unimaginable to disregard the uncooked emotion that he brings to each match. From the sheer depth he brings with each strike to the fierce means he assaults his opponents. There may be nothing mild-mannered about Dragunov.
“That’s a declaration to anybody attempting to mess with me. No one can really feel or think about the bodily and psychological ache I took to get up to now.
I bear in mind it prefer it was yesterday, and I’ll struggle like my life, repeatedly, will depend on it. I’m not human; I’m an emblem.”
–Ilja Dragunov in an interview at Wrestlezone.com
Nevertheless, to understand the place Dragunov is, it is very important comply with his journey earlier than becoming a member of the WWE’s NXT and NXT UK manufacturers. His first documented match was almost ten years in the past.
On April 21st, 2012, Dragunov was a part of a three-team tag workforce gauntlet match competing for the German Wrestling Federation.
Regardless of him and his companion Zero Samurai being unsuccessful, as at all times, it’s in defeat the place the best studying can come about. He would go on to achieve his first win on July 7th, 2012, additionally within the German Wrestling Federation.
The next yr, Dragunov would compete for a number of promotions, together with Massive Japan Professional-Wrestling.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t till he competed for Westside Xtreme Wrestling, based mostly out of Essen, Deutschland, and Nordrhein-Westfalen, that he would discover a residence.
The promotion has been in existence for over 20 years and has seen the likes of Timothy Thatcher and WALTER even be integral elements of the promotions previous.
Ilja Dragunov & His Historical past with WALTER (GUNTHER)
All through his profession, Ilja Dragunov and WALTER (competing now as GUNTHER) have both stood within the ring from each other or been on the identical facet with each other. A documented 34 instances.
The 2 males first confronted each other in September 2015 at wXw’s 15th Anniversary Tour in Borken, Germany, with very modest outcomes. Identified then as ‘Massive Daddy’ Walter, he and Dragunov wrestled to a double count-out.
Neither man received the higher of the opposite. Nevertheless, a few months later, Dragunov would lastly get the higher of Massive Daddy Walter on the identical tour.
This time, nonetheless, it was through disqualification. So whereas a win is a win, on this occasion, it will be no higher than to win by count-out. This win didn’t display the depth and fireplace that burns with Dragunov.
Their paths crossed as soon as once more a month later when Dragunov and his companion Robert Dreissker, collectively generally known as Cerberus, would defeat Massive Daddy Walter and his tag workforce companion Zack Sabre Jr to seize the wXw World Tag Workforce Championships.
This win right here definitely symbolized one thing to Dragunov in opposition to Walter. He had taken one thing that meant a fantastic deal to Walter and dethroned the then tag workforce champions.
It could be almost a yr later earlier than the 2 would as soon as once more cross paths. This time Massive Daddy Walter had change into merely WALTER. With the newly shortened and direct title got here a brand new imaginative and prescient.
Throughout wXw’s Shotgun Reside Tour in Koln, WALTER would defeat Dragunov by the referee’s choice. The subsequent time the 2 would face each other in a match of significance could be for the wXw Unified World Wrestling Title.
Once more, Dragunov would defeat WALTER after twenty-three minutes in an absolute struggle. WALTER would as soon as once more earn a title match lower than a month later, however the end result was the identical. Dropping to the champion Dragunov.
As time handed, the 2 rivals would finally come collectively to realize success as a tag workforce.
On August third, 2019, Dragunov and WALTER would come collectively to defeat Aussie Open (Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher). They’d change into the wXw World Tag Workforce Champions.
Sadly, their reign could be short-lived. As Fletcher and Davis would regain the titles lower than a month after shedding them. The subsequent time the 2 would step into the ring throughout from each other could be as a part of the WWE’s NXT UK model.
“I feel he could have made a whole lot of my life, like, as a wrestler. He made me fully as a result of each time we fought, it was such as you needed to actually work for one thing, a lot struggle for one thing, I feel it’s like WALTER and I preventing was meant to be, it’s like we have to struggle one another.
And we acknowledged it very early, again in 2017, there was electrical energy once we each stepped into the ring. We had no selection however to only go at it.
I feel that is one thing very distinctive if you’re in a position as a performer to go ridiculously into this with all of the vitality and all of the depth you will have.
And this occurs on a regular basis with us. He additionally has this depth, which is totally completely different to mine, however due to that, we’re very comparable as a result of we simply hit one another like a lightning strike.
And that’s one thing that individuals really feel once we face one another.”
– Ilja Dragunov speaking to Inside The Ropes
PROGRESS
Exterior of his time in wXw, the one promotion that was additionally residence to Dragunov was PROGRESS Wrestling based mostly within the UK.
In 2018, Dragunov appeared in PROGRESS for the primary time, coming nose to nose with Pete Dunne throughout PROGRESS’ Chapter 69 occasion. Three months later, Pete Dunne would settle for Dragunov’s problem that was set to happen in England’s historic Wembley Area.
Three months after that, Dragunov would assist Christian Michael Jakobi throughout Dunne’s assault of him after a sequence of insults.
The 2 males would battle time and time once more regardless of each being challenged. It could be September 2018, when Dunne and Dragunov would lastly face each other.
Regardless of popping out on the shedding facet at Chapter 76: Good day Wembley, Dragunov would go away an impression on Dunne.
The next yr, Ilja Dragunov would participate in Tremendous Robust Fashion 16, PROGRESS’ annual event. He would make it to the semi-finals after being eradicated in a three-way elimination match.
He would later change into the primary contender for the Unified World Championship. However, sadly, he would lose to long-time rival WALTER.
As 2018 grew to become 2019, Dragunov’s inventory was off the charts. It was introduced that he could be becoming a member of the WWE as a part of their NXT UK model.
After failing on two separate try-outs to make the roster, he would formally signal with the corporate on the finish of February 2019. His profession has been something however standard. He has confronted males larger than him, stronger than him.
However all of them fail to realize the place has been profitable. Dragunov’s unmatched depth is scary.
From the look in his eyes to the pulsating veins in his brow, the sheer ferocity to which he walks into his match. Ilja Dragunov is simply as obvious now because it was for him earlier than he joined the WWE.