Sami Zayn reportedly made the call to lose on WWE SmackDown.
On the October 17 edition of Friday Night SmackDown, fans were stunned to see the return of Ilja Dragunov after over a year away from the ring with an ACL injury. Answering Sami Zayn’s open challenge, the 32-year-old immediately made an impact as he captured the United States Championship in his first match since September 2024. Now, more has emerged regarding how it came together.
According to a new update from Bodyslam, it’s believed Sami Zayn opted to lose the United States Championship on SmackDown.
“Sources indicate that Sami Zayn made the call to have Ilja Dragunov dethrone him for the United States Championship.”
-Bodyslam
With Sami Zayn having held a series of open challenges on SmackDown to honour John Cena’s iconic reign in 2015, attention now turns to whether Ilja will continue putting the gold on the line as a nod to the retiring legend. As yet, what comes next for both Dragunov and Zayn following last night’s surprising title change remains to be seen.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Ilja Dragunov’s return from injury as soon as we hear more.
