Ilja Dragunov’s departure from WWE left many fans surprised. People consider him a great worker, and he always put on a show. Ilja’s reign as the United States Champion was amazing and many fans couldn’t believe that despite putting on many great matches one after the other, Ilja wasn’t booked consistently on television.
His final WWE match took place on an episode of SmackDown in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. After this, Ilja was never seen on WWE programming again.
Then, on August 20, Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that Dragunov’s contract with WWE had expired. Many fans started speculating about his next destination, and AEW is at the top of their list.
Tony Khan On The Lookout To See What Happens With Ilja Dragunov
During a recent interview with TalkSport, Tony Khan talked about Ilja Dragunov, saying that while he doesn’t know his contractual status, he’ll be on the lookout to see what happens with him.
You can read Khan’s full quote below:
“I can’t speak about the contractual status of wrestlers outside of the promotion because I don’t know everyone’s contract. There’s no way for me to keep track of all that, but I do know that that’s a great wrestler. That’s somebody that is a very excellent athlete, and somebody that has competed at a very high level, and somebody who I respect eminently. So I am a big admirer of his and will always be on the lookout to see what happens with him.”
Now this makes sense. Even if Tony Khan were to sign Ilja, he wouldn’t outright say that he’s doing that.
Since Ilja’s contract expired with the company, he could sign with any promotion whenever he wanted to. AEW All In, at least right now, seems like the best place for him to debut in AEW if he is eventually going to land in the company at all.
In WWE, many fans felt that Ilja was underutilized, but considering Khan is a “big admirer” of his, it’s likely that if both parties were to come to an agreement, Ilja would be featured more prominently than he did in the WWE.
Do you think Tony Khan should sign Ilja Dragunov?
For more on Tony Khan, Ilja Dragunov, and pro wrestling (WWE, AEW, etc.), you can check out this page. If you’re new to watching wrestling, check out our WWE streaming guide, which is updated for 2026.
Main image credit: AEW
Wrestling news reporter.
