Ilja Dragunov discusses his history with the NXT brand.
Throughout his near five year tenure with WWE, Ilja Dragunov has been involved with every iteration of the NXT brand, whether that be modern day NXT, NXT UK, or NXT Black & Gold. During his time with all of those brands, Dragunov has consistently remained near or at the top of the card, as he is widely regarded as one of the best wrestlers in the company.
In a new interview with Fightful, Dragunov talked about being involved in all of the NXT related brands and explained why he thinks the crowd has connected to him for practically his entire run with the company.
"I just progress all the time. I had the wonderful benefit, pretty much from the beginning—doesn’t matter if its NXT:UK or NXT—people trusted in what I do. Because they see I have something different to offer. How I think about all that is entirely different. I care about emotion. I care about something that people can connect to. I care about moments. I care about atmosphere. That’s what I bring to the table. This is something that is sometimes just missing nowadays, people that truly express their true self to the audience. Because if you don’t do that, there is no possibility that the crowd can connect to you. I think that’s the reason why the crowd really, really has connected to me. Because you believe what I do, because I believe what I do. I just go out every single time and I’m empty when I come out again. I feel entirely drained. There are days, and there have been a lot of days—it doesn’t matter if it’s NXT:UK or it’s NXT—I’m just on empty after all that in the ring. Entirely drained. I left it all inside there. This is something I think that the crowd more and more can appreciate."
Elsewhere in the interview, Dragunov reflected on his Last Man Standing match with Dijak at NXT Battleground. Fans can learn more by clicking here.
Fans can see Fightful's full interview with Dragunov linked above.
