The Mad Dragon has landed. Ilja Dragunov made his AEW in-ring debut in the main event of the October 21 episode of Dynamite, defeating “Speedball” Mike Bailey after a hard-hitting first-time-ever matchup that closed the show in Coral Gables, Florida.
Ilja Dragunov (Credits: Fightful)
Dragunov signed with AEW at WrestleDream, and the company wasted no time putting him in the spotlight. Headlining a Dynamite on your first night is a statement — and the former WWE NXT standout backed it up, weathering Bailey’s lightning-fast offense before sealing the win with not one but two D-Bomb finishers, one to the knee and one to the head.
A First Singles Win Since January
The victory carries extra weight for Dragunov personally. It is his first singles win since defeating The Miz on SmackDown in January — a telling detail about how his WWE run had stalled before he made the jump. In AEW, he opened in the main event against one of the best in-ring technicians on the roster and left with the pin.
The match itself delivered on its billing. Bailey brought his trademark aerial attack, pushing Dragunov to the limit before the Mad Dragon’s raw intensity took over. The two-D-Bomb finish was a decisive exclamation point: this is not a trial run, it is a launch.
What This Means for Dragunov’s AEW Future
AEW has a history of giving big debuts to its WrestleDream signings, but a main-event debut on Dynamite suggests the company sees Dragunov as a serious upper-card player from day one. Fans have already been buzzing — Bandido recently named the newly signed Dragunov as one of his dream opponents in AEW, and the match quality of this debut will only fuel those fantasy matchups.
With Full Gear season heating up, a debut this strong positions Dragunov for a meaningful spot on one of AEW’s biggest shows of the year. If his first night is any indication, the Mad Dragon is about to become one of Dynamite’s most dangerous additions.
Also Read: Ilja Dragunov Explains Why He Felt WWE Was Changing — Without Blaming Anyone
Source: Fightful — read the full story there.
