Ilja Dragunov Recalls Visa Process That Allowed Him To Debut At AEW WrestleDream 2026
Since Ilja Dragunov debuted at AEW WrestleDream this past weekend, much has been made regarding the wait he was forced to endure caused by his visa needing to be renewed, with Dave Meltzer even suggesting that Dragunov's former employer WWE had made the process difficult. Dragunov didn't touch on that aspect of the story when appearing on "The Ariel Helwani Show" Tuesday afternoon, but he didn't hesitate to talk about the rest of process that prevented his AEW debut from happening sooner.
"I mean, it's not the first time I've had to apply for a visa in the United States," Dragunov said. "That part was already quite familiar to me. But of course, since...everything I want to do is work and fight and perform, I just couldn't wait for things to happen quicker. But from the company side, they were helping me in that process in every way possible. So it was absolutely smooth. It took around, I guess, around a month, which was still too long for me, but...if put in perspective, very fast."
Dragunov confirmed an earlier story by AEW owner Tony Khan that he learned his visa was ready in the middle of the night in Germany, revealing he was fortunately up at the time to chat with his girlfriend, wrestler Lady Leigh, who is touring in Japan. Upon checking his email and realizing his passport was set, Dragunov sprung into action.
"I immediately thought 'Okay, if I can pickup my passport today, I can be back in the states today,' because you travel, kind of, back in time if you come from Germany to the states," Dragunov said. "So I reached out to the company, everything went extremely quick. Everything got booked, and I was, in no time, within like seven hours, I was on my flight back to the states. And that's the perfect way for me, because I didn't want to...wait another single second anymore."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "The Ariel Helwani Show" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription