We have not seen Ilja Dragunov step into the ring since his war with WALTER in 2020 for the NXT UK Championship. That was the match of the year for many fans, but Dragunov was not the victor. Now, he’s starting from scratch to remember exactly who he is.
When he made his NXT UK debut, it was against Jack Starz, who he challenged to a match to get himself back on track. Starz doesn’t have a great win-loss record, but he could pull off a big upset here and get his title dreams started. He recently got his first pinfall win over Saxton Huxley, and needs to keep his momentum moving.
Jack Starz Puts The Pressure On
Starz and Dragunov would lock up early, with Starz pushing Dragunov back to the ropes and trying to take him down. Dragunov got the wrist and quickly took Starz down with a hip toss. Starz used his agility to gain control and took Dragunov to the mat with a toss of his own, before flooring him with a dropkick.
Dragunov wouldn’t stay down long, and got right back to grappling with Starz, and found himself in a side headlock. He’d fight back to his feet, before dropping Starz with a hip toss but got rolled up into a near fall. Starz kept going for quick pin fall attempts, but was unable to find three. The pace would be kept up with a lariat, but Dragunov would not go down.
There’s The Ilja Dragunov That Has Been Missing
Dragunov grabbed the legs of Starz, lifted him and slammed him hard into the mat before grabbing a headlock. Starz tried hard to break it, only to get caught off a crossbody attempt, and wiggled free just to take a huge chop. Torpedo Moscow was countered with a lariat from Starz, who was having the match of his life here.
Starz got a near fall off a German Suplex, then some big european uppercuts to bring Dragunov to his knees, before chopping him across the back of the neck. Dragunov was woken up by this, and he would maul Starz in the corner with chops and have to be pulled away by the referee. A quick single underhook suplex, a German Suplex, then another and some knee strikes.
The pumphandle suplex dumped Starz down, and Torpedo Moscow to the back of the neck could have won this match. Instead, Dragunov trapped the arms of Starz and elbowed him in the head for a referee stoppage. Is this new unhinged Dragunov going to climb back to the NXT UK Championship? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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