Report: WWE & Ilja Dragunov Held Talks Over Return As Recently As June

Ilja Dragunov is officially done with WWE, with the former United States Champion being moved to the alumni section of the WWE roster page on Thursday after he allowed his contract to expire.

That may not have always been Dragunov's plan, however, as Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer has reported that Dragunov and WWE were "strongly negotiating" over a return to WWE programming for the 32-year-old as recently as June.

Dragunov had been off WWE TV since the SmackDown before WrestleMania when he competed in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal that was won by Royce Keys. It is unknown why exactly WWE just stopped using Dragunov, but he continued to train at the Hart Dungeon during his absence.

Ilja Dragunov had been a part of WWE since 2019, joining the company initially as part of the NXT UK brand, where he remained until it was shuttered in August of 2022. Dragunov then moved to NXT proper and was called up to the main roster in April 2024.

A torn ACL sidelined Dragunov for 13 months from September 2024 to October 2025. He won the United States Championship upon his return and the Moscow-born wrestler remained involved in the United States Title picture until WWE stopped booking him.