AEW Releases Behind-The-Scenes Footage From Ilja Dragunov's WrestleDream 2026 Debut

By Eric Mutter
Ilja Dragunov backstage at WrestleDream before his debut AEW/Facebook
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Visa issues may have delayed it, but Ilja Dragunov is finally All Elite, debuting in AEW this past Saturday at WrestleDream after the promotion had teased his arrival twice via vignette, first on Wednesday during the double tapings of "Dynamite" and "Collision" and again on Friday with a video posted on social media. And now that the cat is out of the bag, AEW is giving fans a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at Dragunov's arrival, taking to X Monday evening to do so.

The minute long video largely expanded on footage already shown by AEW in their previous Dragunov vignettes, with the former WWE United States Champion shown working out in a ring, walking in the street, getting ready to hit the ring at WrestleDream, and hugging AEW owner Tony Khan. The footage was accompanied by quotes from Dragunov, both from the post-WrestleDream press scrum and Dragunov's ride to the building. But in case that wasn't enough, Dragunov was also captured giving his reaction to his debut upon immediately walking to the back.

"It's such a warm welcome to something that you were waiting for for the whole day," Dragunov said. "Everything, all the details, everything came together so nicely. I couldn't be more grateful."

In addition to providing the backstage footage, AEW's tweet revealed that Dragunov will be making his wrestling debut for AEW on "Dynamite" this week, though an opponent has yet to be revealed. Whoever the opponent is, the match will be Dragunov's first time wrestling outside of the WWE banner since 2022, when he wrestled a match for PROGRESS Wrestling as a contracted WWE talent. Prior to signing with WWE, Dragunov had been a staple of the European independent circuit, most notably wrestling for German promotion Westside Extreme Wrestling.

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