Ilja Dragunov Shares When He Thought About Leaving WWE
Ilja Dragunov officially departed WWE in August when his contract expired, and he decided not to renew his deal.
Dragunov had been off WWE TV since April when he competed in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. He joined AEW after his deal expired, making his debut at AEW WrestleDream.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The Ariel Helwani Show, Dragunov was asked when he thought of leaving WWE.
“After I tore my ACL, I was fortunate to win a championship straight back on my comeback, which was an amazing moment for me that I still cherish. After I dropped the belt, things went into directions where I feel like it could’ve been better and more time to go into a story or something outside of holding a championship. Around April, maybe even a month before that, I was already just thinking about it. It never changed anything about my work because I love what I do and I make every minute count, but we all have feelings and we all want to devote ourselves to this, but I know it’s part of the business. I wouldn’t change that,” he said.
Elsewhere during the interview, Dragunov gave more insight into his decision to leave WWE. You can find his full comments here.
Dragunov made his AEW in-ring debut on Wednesday’s Dynamite, defeating “Speedball” Mike Bailey.
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