Tony Khan ‘On The Lookout’ For Ilja Dragunov’s Future

Tony Khan addresses the possibility of AEW signing Ilja Dragunov.

On August 20, it emerged that Ilja Dragunov had departed WWE, leading to natural speculation that the former United States Champion could be headed to All Elite Wrestling. With Dragunov now a free agent and reportedly not subject to a non-compete clause, the door is open for him to potentially appear at AEW All In: London this Sunday.

Speaking to TalkSport, AEW President Tony Khan remained vague on the prospect of bringing him in, but admitted that he will be keeping an eye on his situation.

“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.”

-Tony Khan

For those unfamiliar with the promotion, Dragunov could debut at All In: London via the Casino Gauntlet match. Over the past two years, multiple AEW debuts have taken place during the match, including Ricochet, Syuri, and Alex Windsor. It, therefore, would not be out of the ordinary for Dragunov to make a big splash in the Casino Gauntlet before immediately being introduced into AEW storylines.

However, there has been no confirmation, or even serious teasing, that this is definitely going to happen. Industry sources do expect AEW to be his likely landing spot, though, with a return to the independent scene considered unlikely. You can read more about that here.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates concerning current free agents and where they end up as soon as we hear more.

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to WrestlePurists.com for the transcription.