NXT UK: Everything you need to know about Ilja Dragunov

Ilja Dragunov is coming to NXT UK. In case you never heard of the international commodity, here’s everything you need to know about him before his debut.

The latest episode of NXT UK featured a video package hyping up the brand’s latest acquisition: Ilja Dragunov. Dragunov was first signed by WWE back in January and reported to the Performance Center a month later.

Those familiar with the man were ecstatic to learn about his signing. Meanwhile, there are tons of people out there – even those in the United Kingdom – not familiar with Dragunov. Which makes sense, given that most of his work has taken place in Germany.

For those who are not so privileged to have seen his work overseas, we are going to tell you everything you need to know about the self-proclaimed Unbesiegbar – translated to “Invincible” in English – to get you primed and ready to see him on the British yellow brand.

The best way to get acquainted with Ilja Dragunov would be to  watch his three part documentary made on behalf of Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXW), but here’s a rough summary of the three-parter. At the age of five-years old, Young Ilja and his immigrant mother moved to Germany from his birth place in Russia. He and his mother were both verbally abused for not speaking the German language and grew up poor. So poor that Dragunov recalls as a child having to beg his mom to buy him a Twix because they couldn’t afford it.

Growing up, Ilja tried his best to make ends meat. He worked every odd job you could think of from working at a pizza parlor to being custodial staff at a gas station. Finally, wrestling came into his life. In his own words, “I don’t feel like I chose wrestling. Wrestling chose me.”

Dragunov started training almost a decade ago at the GWF Training School under 20-year veteran Rick Baxxter and Axel Tischer, the man who would later become SAnitY’s Alexander Wolfe. Dragunov made his in-ring debut in 2012. A year later, he started to call wXw his home and he would remain there until getting signed by WWE earlier this year.

The Czar quickly grew accustomed to the ring and became a natural at his job. Character wise especially, it didn’t take long before he built a reputation as one of the most charismatic, eccentric and overall unique looking wrestlers in the industry today.

Mr. Invincible slowly rose to the top of the mountain in wXw from the very start. In 2013, he became the first ever wXw Shotgun Champion. He then gained some attention and acclaim in 2016 when he won the wXw World Tag Team Titles with Julian Nero as members of the Cerberus stable, but the following year would serve as his true coming out party.

It was in 2017 that Dragunov won the wXw 16 Carat Tournament, defeating WALTER in the final. The 16 Carat Tournament is essentially the equivalent to a King of the Ring tournament in that winning the tournament means a bigger and better push for the winner.

Unbesiegbar spent the rest of the year creeping his way up the main event picture until a year later in March 2018 when he won wXw’s highest honor: the Unified World Wrestling Title. Additionally, the past year or so saw Dragunov bounce around from independent feds in the UK like ICW and Progress. There, he had spectacular bouts with guys like Joe Coffey and Pete Dunne. He also had countless wars in wXw with WALTER.

Now, they are all under the same roof of NXT UK.

The prospect of Ilja Dragunov in NXT UK – and WWE as a whole – is an exciting one that we should all be thrilled about. Not only will he satisfy some dream matches, he’ll likely recreate many of the classics he crafted overseas. Either way, he’s bound to produce some fantastic content. With a presentation and personality such as his, he immediately stands out and that alone ensures a bright future for The Invincible One.