Ilja Dragunov Explains Why He Quit WWE For AEW

Ilja Dragunov has explained why he decided to allow his WWE contract to expire in August 2026 and leave the company for All Elite Wrestling, with the former WWE NXT Champion revealing on the Ariel Helwani Show that WWE made an attempt to re-sign him but he decided to leave the organisation due to an accumulation of factors.

"Yeah, that was there. There was no intention of the company to let me go… It was an accumulation of a lot of things. Of course the offering, because we all know at the end of the day it's a business. But also it's definitely based on my feeling of, like, how do I want to work creatively? Do I need a scenery change? Is the scenery change something where I can see myself staying for, like, forever? I spent most of my 20s in WWE. That's a very, very long time, and the landscape in this beautiful business changed. So the beautiful thing is nowadays we have other opportunities and for me, personally, after such a long time being with a company to not seek out new opportunities, maybe even in a place where I see myself more fitting, who wouldn’t do that?" Dragunov stated.

The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the go-home edition of SmackDown before WrestleMania 42 ended up being Dragunov's final WWE match, but he had no idea that would be the case at the time.

"No, absolutely not. Everything I've got to tell about that is also not very hot or very exciting. I didn't know at that time that I was leaving. I’m a person, I love what I do. I want to compete, I want to work, I want to do this or that. It just got a little stuck but it’s nothing new to anybody. It was pretty obvious. The time just passed by and then I reached the expiration of my contract. Like I already said after the show at the press conference at WrestleDream, I felt over time that, okay, with how everything is working out and how I’m feeling, because I make a lot of things depending on how I feel about it, I always have the courage to do so, I feel like it is time to breathe some new fresh air," he added.

Around March 2026, however, Dragunov began to feel that WWE may not be the place for him to wrestle anymore. Dragunov continued:

"I think, I mean like after I’ve torn my ACL I’ve been fortunate to win a championship straight back on my comeback, which was an amazing moment that I still cherish. I think that after I dropped the belt, things kind of like went to directions where I feel like, 'Okay, it could have been better.' It could have been more time to go into a story, into something that is outside of just holding a championship, captivating for the people. So I think around April, maybe even a month before that, I was already like just thinking about it. It never changed anything about my work mentality because I love what I do and I make every minute count for myself. But we all have feelings, and especially if we were in a business like this, we want to devote ourselves to this, but I also know it’s just a part of the business. Can’t change that."

Dragunov did not reveal whether WWE offered him a pay rise or pay cut, but the former WWE United States Champion admitted the offer on the table from the company was "nothing that I felt satisfying."

"To be honest, I’m too much discreet and too much of a businessman and a gentleman myself to talk about these kind of things. Everything I can say is that it was nothing that I felt satisfying and nothing that gave me the perspective of like, ‘Okay, I must stick with what I hear,'" Dragunov stated.

Prior to his departure, Ilja Dragunov had been a part of WWE since 2019, initially performing on NXT UK, which included one reign as NXT United Kingdom Champion, before he moved to the United States in 2022 after NXT UK was shut down.

Dragunov was then a top star in NXT and won the NXT Championship prior to moving to the main roster in 2024 following WrestleMania XL. Dragunov was featured prominently in the Raw mid-card prior to suffering a torn ACL in a house show match with Gunther in September 2024.

Dragunov defeated Sami Zayn to win the United States Championship on SmackDown in his return from injury in October 2025, which would lead to a 64-day reign before Dragunov dropped the title to Carmelo Hayes. Dragunov remained involved in the United States Title picture until he disappeared from TV in April.

Dragunov made his AEW debut at WrestleDream 2026, with his appearance at the pay-per-view only coming together earlier that week after his United States work visa was approved.

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