Ilja Dragunov Making First WWE NXT Appearance Tonight

Ilja Dragunov will make his first appearance for WWE NXT tonight.

The NXT UK star has never appeared for the US wing of NXT, with his appearance tonight likely to build his NXT UK Championship match against WALTER at NXT TakeOver: 36 next Sunday.

WWE officially announced Dragunov’s upcoming appearance on their official website, with The Mad Russian last in action on the June 24 edition of NXT UK.

Dragunov has been signed to WWE since early 2019, predominantly wrestling for Progress and wXw before joining NXT UK. The highlight of Dragunov’s NXT UK career thus far was the instant classic against NXT UK Champion WALTER on October 29 2020, a bout that won a glut of MOTY awards.

WALTER has held the NXT UK Championship for over 850 days - the longest title reign in modern WWE since Hulk Hogan WWE Title run from 1984 to 1988 - having defeated previous champion Pete Dunne for the title belt at NXT TakeOver: New York in April 2019.