Ilja Dragunov’s departure from WWE caught even AJ Styles off guard. On a recent episode of The AJ Styles Show, the WWE Hall of Famer lamented the end of the former United States Champion’s run with the company.
“I know that I’m very sad about the situation. I enjoy his work very much.”
Styles retired from in-ring competition on January 31 after losing to Gunther at the Royal Rumble and currently works backstage for WWE, primarily as a producer while also helping younger talent. Because of that role, he said he has no inside knowledge of what led to Dragunov leaving the company.
“I don’t know what’s going on, I just know, ‘Holy crap.’ That’s about all I know.”
Dragunov officially left WWE on August 20 when his contract expired. He has since been moved to the Alumni section on the company’s official website, and because he was not released before the deal ran out, he is free to sign with another promotion immediately.
According to Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline, WWE and Dragunov were still in heavy negotiations over a possible return to programming as recently as June. Dave Meltzer later reported that the two sides were far apart financially on a new deal, though Dragunov has yet to publicly share his version of events.
“We’re going to have to wait and see what he says about the situation when he’s able to talk about it, then we’ll all know the truth. I’ll be the first one to tell you, I thought the guy was awesome.”
Dragunov had been with WWE since 2019 and held the NXT UK Championship, the NXT Championship, and the United States Championship during his tenure. His final match came on the April 17 episode of SmackDown, where he competed in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.