Ilja Dragunov Beats Axiom In Fourth Open Challenge US Title Defense On WWE SmackDown

Ilja Dragunov may not be keen on putting his United States Championship on line against unworthy "jacka**es" like Tommaso Ciampa, but he was more than willing to face the high-flying Axiom on Friday's episode of "WWE SmackDown." In another installation of the United States Open Challenge, Dragunov and Axiom shocked and stunned Albany with their display of in-ring magnificence, but when it was all said and done, "The Mad Dragon" defended his gold to remained the United States Champion.

Dragunov and Axiom wasted no time warming up as the opening bell rang. The men displayed a masterclass in all sorts of wrestling, from electrifying sprints and dives to deliberate and intense grapple work. Both men took each other to the absolute limit, with counter after counter keeping both men in the title fight. Axiom nearly took home his first singles title in WWE after nailing Dragunov with both a magnificent Springboard Moonsault DDT and picture-perfect Spanish Fly, but his following Golden Ratio attempt led him straight into a Torpedo Moscow from the champion. From there, an exhausted Dragunov finally landed an H-Bomb for the pinfall. Both men could hardly stand, but managed to embrace in a post-match show of respect.

With this victory, Dragunov is set to continue his United States Championship reign, which currently sits at 29 days and counting. Since winning the title from Sami Zayn, Dragunov has defended his title against the likes of Aleister Black, Nathan Frazer, and Johnny Gargano.

While Dragunov and Ciampa had a tense backstage confrontation earlier in the evening, Axiom was the one on the receiving end of Ciampa's ire. While "SmackDown" was on commercial break, Ciampa attacked a departing Axiom. Frazer rushed to the ring to help his tag team partner, but Ciampa managed to escape. Dragunov has not commented on the post-match attack.