Ilja Dragunov Isn’t Afraid Of Being Lost In AEW Roster, Says He’s Been Impressed By Bandido’s Work
As time ticks towards his All Elite Wrestling debut, Ilja Dragunov is sizing up the roster.
Ilja’s debut at AEW WrestleDream still has people talking, and the video showing his arrival has already topped 1 million views. Many are eager to see him in action, although one of the major concerns some have voiced since his arrival surrounds whether he’ll be able to stand out in what’s an already stacked locker room of talent. Now, Dragunov has directly addressed this point, while singling out someone he’s been impressed by.
In a chat with TMZ’s Inside The Ring, Dragunov noted he’s not afraid of being lost in the shuffle.
“I didn’t consider how stacked the roster is because it’s a fear I don’t have. I was always betting on myself. I bet on myself when I left WWE. I’m betting on myself still, and I’m betting on what my gut is telling me and the way the people, the company introduced me, I think it speaks for itself that I stick out from all the rest on that roster. People who stick out and are not like anybody else, you kind of put the objective on them and only if you are like everybody else or try to be like everybody else — which is also like an unfortunate thing happening nowadays, unfortunately — then you get overlooked. But, I haven’t been overlooked once in my 14 years of career.”
-Ilja Dragunov
Also during the TMZ chat, he cited Bandido as someone who has caught his eye.
“This is also somebody I have been impressed about, like, at all times, is a person like Bandido. What this person is just capable of is just like somebody just straight out of a video game. That is incredible. Some things he makes so effortlessly that I don’t have the capacity to describe that.”
-Ilja Dragunov
One of the key reasons that many wanted Ilja in All Elite Wrestling is because of how stacked the divisions are, and all the possibilities for great battles for Dragunov to have. To that end, Tony Khan has revealed that his first match will be against fan-favorite wrestler Speedball Mike Bailey. You can read more about that announcement here.
In the WrestleDream media scrum, Ilja Dragunov spoke about how he is up for facing the entire roster, citing foes like Jon Moxley and Kyle Fletcher as proof that the roster is full of competition to face. You can find more of his comments from the post-show here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Ilja Dragunov as soon as we hear more.
H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
