It is September of 2018 and PWG’s annual tournament, the Battle of Los Angeles, is taking place at the Globe Theater. Like most years, the participants are a who’s who of independent and international standouts, along with the odd surprise.
One entrant in particular has become a standout of the European independent scene through his wars with names like WALTER and Cara Noir, among others. The wrestler’s name is Ilja Dragunov, a young man born in Moscow, Russia, but would grow up in Dresden, Germany, after migrating there with his mother. He discovered wrestling when he just discovered a backyard scene near his home when he was a teenager, and by the end of the decade became one of the biggest independent names in Europe.
But like many U.S. fans, my first exposure to him would be in the Battle of Los Angeles. Dragunov would team with Shingo Takagi, who left Dragon Gate earlier in the year and had not yet debuted with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, against Dragunov’s fellow Euro-standout WALTER and his Ringkampf stablemate and veteran of the U.S. independent scene, Timothy Thatcher.
Speaking on my own experience, I had only gotten back into professional wrestling a little more than a year before this and I still had limited exposure beyond WWE, New Japan, and whatever I found on YouTube. All four of these wrestlers were relatively new to me, with WALTER and Thatcher being the only two I was somewhat familiar with thanks to PWG highlights.
I say all this to say that despite not having any meaningful familiarity with any of these names, I found myself enthralled by the physical and technical war unfolding in this small theater in Los Angeles. WALTER was the domineering ‘Ring General’ who would go on to conquer WWE. Thatcher was the workhorse has continues wrestling in 2026 while training the next generation. Takagi was giving fans a taste of the star he was about to become in New Japan.
All three were incredible.
But.
There was something different about watching Ilja Dragunov.
When he moved, it was with an intensity that was far different from the other three. He threw everything behind every strike, every hold, and every pin, giving no quarter and expecting none. He made you believe that nothing else mattered to him in that moment than scoring that pinfall.
It seemed like no matter what was thrown at him, he came back roaring like a dragon with eyes as blazing as fire. Despite such a valiant fight, Dragunov and Takagi would come up short against WALTER and Thatcher on night one of BOLA.
Cut to day two, partners on night one are now adversaries as Dragunov battled Takagi on the second night of tournament action. It was more of the same from night one as Dragunov and Takagi seemed to be on equal footing for most of the match. But ultimately, the veteran Takagi would emerge the victor and move on to night three.
And while Dragunov wouldn’t be on night three, he found his way back to my screen in very short order. I was an immediate mega-fan of the ‘Mad Dragon’ and sought out what I could until he was signed by WWE as part of NXT UK to kick off 2019.
The rest, they say, is history.
Dragunov would be one of several names from NXT UK to go on to bigger things across the wrestling world. He won the NXT UK and NXT Championships during his time in WWE’s developmental system, with his feud with Carmelo Hayes often cited as arguably both wrestlers’ best opponent in NXT.
His main roster start wasn’t as smooth as he suffered a torn ACL in October 2024 that took him out of action for a year. Upon returning in October 2025, he joined SmackDown and defeated United States Champion Sami Zayn in an open challenge for the title. Dragunov continued the U.S. Title open challenge until Hayes avenged his own loss to Dragunov for the NXT Title and win the U.S. Title.
Dragunov’s final WWE match would be the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the April 17, 2026, edition of SmackDown, the day before WrestleMania 42 began. The wrestling world was then shocked to learn Dragunov departed WWE months later on August 20, the latest in a shocking string of WWE releases and departures in 2026 that included names like the New Day, Sheamus, and Kairi Sane.
Immediately, everyone’s mind went to Dragunov joining AEW only days before the promotion’s biggest show of the year, All In London. Fans couldn’t help but fantasy book ‘The Czar’ against arguably one of the greatest rosters ever assembled with names such as Will Ospreay, MJF, Kenny Omega, Swerve Strickland, Jon Moxley, Andrade El Idolo, and so many more.
It seemed like a when, not if, Dragunov would debut in AEW.
Fans were answered on October 17, 2026, at AEW WrestleDream where, after a month of dealing with visa issues, Dragunov made his shock debut to a raucous reaction in Orlando, Florida. AEW President Tony Khan later revealed Dragunov informed Khan during the live broadcast of the previous week’s Dynamite that he had his visa and was cleared to travel to the U.S., prompting Khan to air a debut vignette originally planned to air during WrestleDream during the Collision hour of the broadcast.
And to say there may be no more perfect environment for a wrestler would be an understatement.
As mentioned above, Dragunov is walking in to what is one of the greatest rosters of talent ever assembled, rivaling the likes of WWF in the mid to late 80s, WCW in the mid 90s, and WWF in 2000. It is arguably the deepest rosters of any major company in 2026, able to support five singles titles for the men’s division.
Whether they actually need that many titles is another matter entirely, but the fact the promotion can speaks to the roster depth.
Dragunov has shown over his career that he has the ability to pull the very best out of
There may be no more perfect pairing of promotion and wrestler than AEW and Ilja Dragunov. AEW has become a company known for the work-rate and athleticism of the wrestlers and praised for the quality of their pay-per-views, even if the long runtime is often fairly criticized.
It is a company that claims to be “for the sickos” and “where the best wrestle,” and often backs it up in big fashion.
This is the sort of environment tailor made for a wrestler like Dragunov, who has long been regarded as one of the best in-ring wrestlers in the world. He has an uncanny ability to gel with seemingly anyone and any style with ease, bringing out the best of anyone he shares the ring with.
It comes at a time during 2026 as well where AEW is in the midst of what may be the promotion’s best year, in terms of the product’s quality, since it started in 2019. The weekly TV has been of a consistently good quality while multiple pay-per-views have been hailed as being the best in AEW history.
Knowing Dragunov, he is likely looking to dive right in to the deep end, and there’s no other place he should be.
