Ilja Dragunov is back! Dragunov answered Sami Zayn’s United States Championship Open Challenge on SmackDown. Zayn was originally not scheduled for the show, but insisted on defending his title to give people an opportunity on the show. He told SmackDown GM Nick Aldis that he was going to the ring to defend his title, and […] The post Ilja Dragunov Returns On WWE SmackDown appeared first on Wrestlezone.
Ilja Dragunov is back!
Dragunov answered Sami Zayn’s United States Championship Open Challenge on SmackDown. Zayn was originally not scheduled for the show, but insisted on defending his title to give people an opportunity on the show. He told SmackDown GM Nick Aldis that he was going to the ring to defend his title, and Aldis didn’t oblige.
Zayn entered the ring to wait for his opponent. The Miz came to the ring and cut a promo on Zayn, but Carmelo Hayes ran out and attacked Miz from behind. Melo slammed Miz’s head into the entrance screen and they fought backstage as officials tried to break them up. Zayn wondered what would happen next, and he soon found out as Dragunov’s music cued up.
The “Mad Dragon” made his first appearance on WWE TV in more than a year, as he had been out since September 2024 with an ACL injury. His last match was a live event loss to Gunther on September 28, 2024, while his last televised match was an Intercontinental Title #1 Contendership Tournament Final match featuring Jey Uso, Braun Strowman and Pete Dunne.
On Friday, PWInsider reported that the former NXT Champion had been spotted backstage at SmackDown in San Jose. Fightful (via Fightful Select) and Bodyslam.net reported that Dragunov was expected to have a match, but the exact match was unknown at the time of the report.
Read More: WWE SmackDown Results: Review, Grades, Card For Oct 17
UNBELIEVABLE!! @UNBESIEGBAR_ZAR is BACK!!! ? pic.twitter.com/j3hHSXIyyp
— WWE (@WWE) October 18, 2025
The post Ilja Dragunov Returns On WWE SmackDown appeared first on Wrestlezone.
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