Ilja Dragunov Identifies Important Lesson Learned From WWE NXT Boss Shawn Michaels

Over the last several years, Ilja Dragunov has made a name for himself as one of WWE's hardest-hitting performers. During an interview with "Ringer Wrestling," Dragunov revealed that he's taken a lot of cues from WWE legend Shawn Michaels, specifically on how to pace himself in the ring. 

"A lesson that I learned very quick from him, I think it was around NXT UK days where Shawn was around a couple of times – it was basically that if you're not exhausted by your own performing, selling, whatever – you're not doing [it] right," he explained.

Dragunov further noted that this ties directly into passion, and whenever he steps into the ring, he feels like he almost dies from how hard he pushes himself. "Even when you look at NXT and the time I worked there, and talked to Shawn a lot of times, he always gave me a beautiful approval of, like, the way that I work and the person that I am," he claimed. "I never needed to change anything, because it worked out for me."

At the same time, Dragunov claims he loves a good fight, and admitted that he might sometimes take things too far. "I'm more of a danger to myself in the ring [than] I'm a danger to somebody else sometimes, you know?" he gleefully pointed out. "I don't think there's anything that I do like that is not as least as painful for me that it is for the other person."

Last year, Dragunov had a memorable run with the WWE United States Championship, and made an appearance in the Men's Royal Rumble this past January. He also took part in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale before WWE WrestleMania 42 but fell short.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Ringer Wrestling" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.