Ilja Dragunov update (Patreon)

Ilja Dragunov has left WWE after his contract expired.

Originally reported by PWInsider, WWE sources quickly confirmed the news to Fightful Select. It was noted to Fightful that WWE had hoped to retain Dragunov, but he opted to not re-sign with the company. Upon hearing the news, AEW sources we spoke to had not yet heard about him coming to the company. However, he is now a free agent and could appear as soon as they wanted.

Sources in the industry did expect him to land in All Elite Wrestling, but that was considered a hunch as opposed to firm. We've been working to learn what his visa status is, as a lot of times when wrestlers leave the company they have a grace period before needing to procure one. However, if he wants to stay in America, he will have no trouble getting work.

We've heard that a number of wrestlers actually reached out to him this Summer about his whereabouts in WWE, and hadn't heard anything. He did train with some wrestlers that we spoke to, but they hadn't heard of his situation at that point.

Fightful Select has learned several details surrounding what could come next for Dragunov. In speaking with sources across independent wrestling in Europe, his exit came as a surprise to those we spoke with in wXw, his former home promotion. Those we spoke with expected more from Ilja’s time on the main roster due to his ability to connect with fans.

Since April of this year, Ilja had not been on television, and in May he was in attendance for a wXw event in Hamburg. Naturally, following his WWE exit, several European independent wrestlers we spoke with hoped to face off with him if given the chance. However, one wXw source we spoke with noted that they would be surprised to see Dragunov return to the independent scene, while a UK promoter noted that while they’d love to book him, they would be surprised to see Ilja return to the indies with a bookable rate for most promotions on the continent. Another European promoter expects that Dragunov will sign with AEW, while also predicting that Dragunov could end up back in PROGRESS.