Ilja Dragunov didn’t get fired from WWE — and he wasn’t pushed out. According to Dave Meltzer, the Mad Dragon simply decided to let his contract expire, even though WWE desperately wanted him to stay. And once it became clear he wouldn’t sign a new deal, the company made a pointed decision: stop putting him on television altogether.
Meltzer broke down the full story on the October 18 edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, following Dragunov’s AEW debut at WrestleDream on October 17.
Ilja Dragunov (Credits: Ringside News)
WWE’s cold response to a “no”
“Ricochet and Ilya, they left on their own,” Meltzer explained. “They waited for their contract to expire… they kind of knew that, look, he wouldn’t sign a new deal.”
But instead of continuing to feature Dragunov on TV until his deal ran out, WWE pulled him. “They kept him off TV because they wanted him to sign a new deal and he would not sign the new deal,” Meltzer said. “And they figured… 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 compared the situation to Ricochet’s exit — another star who left WWE on his own terms rather than being released. He also noted that Dragunov’s path differed from other former WWE names in AEW: several of those wrestlers were released under Vince McMahon and wanted to return once Triple H took over creative, but their AEW deals locked them in. Dragunov, by contrast, chose his exit deliberately.
The visa drama behind his AEW debut
Getting Dragunov to WrestleDream nearly came down to the wire. Meltzer revealed that visa issues tied to his previous WWE employment almost delayed his arrival, and AEW had its debut vignette ready but refused to air it without knowing whether Dragunov could actually appear at the pay-per-view.
“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,” Meltzer said. “The plan and the hope absolutely was for him to be on the pay per view.”
Dragunov got the visa situation sorted just in time and made his debut as planned. So the story is complete: WWE wanted him, he said no, WWE benched him — and now he’s the competition’s newest star.
Also Read: Ilja Dragunov Reveals Why He Chose AEW Over WWE: “If The Air Gets Thinner, I Need To Breathe”, Tony Khan Admits Ilja Dragunov’s WrestleDream Debut Was Uncertain Until Wednesday Due to Visa Issues
Source: Ringside News — read the full story there.
