Ilja Dragunov Retains WWE Men's US Title Yet Again In Latest SmackDown Open Challenge

Ilja Dragunov retained his United States Championship for the fifth time in as many weeks with a win over JD McDonagh during "WWE SmackDown."

Since dethroning Sami Zayn for the title, having returned from injury in Zayn's weekly open challenge, in October, Dragunov has vowed to continue the open challenge each week. Having already seen off Aleister Black, Nathan Frazer, Johnny Gargano, and Axiom since then, Dragunov sought to come just one shy of Zayn's total defenses for that reign. But it wasn't an easy route to victory for the champion. 

McDonagh took control in the early stages from a striking exchange, but Dragunov returned fire with a Constantine Special to create space. He looked for a second one only to get caught in a standing Spanish Fly for a near-fall, with McDonagh compounding his advantage to eventually deliver a brainbuster followed by a moonsault for another close near-fall. Ultimately, Dragunov secured the winning pinfall and title retention with a powerbomb to drop McDonagh on the mat, following up with the H-Bomb to his grounded opponent's face. 

In a backstage segment following the match, Dragunov was confronted by Tama Tonga – as he has been since becoming the US Champion – before walking away; Tomasso Ciampa, who had been snubbed in recent weeks when attempting to answer the open challenge, then confronted Dragunov, telling him to forget about Tonga because he is the one who is going to end his title reign, and would have answered the challenge had it not been for his and Gargano's preoccupation with FrAxiom.