Major confusion emerges seconds before huge title match on WWE SmackDown

A huge title match was set to take place on WWE SmackDown tonight. However, major confusion emerged seconds before this match.

On the 17th October episode of SmackDown, Ilja Dragunov made his return from injury and answered Sami Zayn's US Open challenge. In a shocking turn of events, Dragunov managed to defeat Zayn and win the United States Championship. Since then, he has carried the US Open challenge forward. Last week on the blue brand, he defended the title against Aleister Black.

Tonight on WWE SmackDown, Ilja Dragunov issued another open challenge. At first, Fraxiom's music played, and they came out. However, seconds later, Tommaso Ciampa's music hit, and he stormed out to the ring. He asked Dragunov if he was seriously considering giving a title to Nathan Frazer. The US Champion replied that since Nathan Frazer was the first to answer the challenge, he should get the title match. As expected, Frazer and Ilja Dragunov delivered an exceptional match that had the fans on their feet. Frazer came close to winning when he hit the Phoenix splash. However, it was the Mad Dragon who won the match after an H-Bomb.

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Vince Russo identified major issue with Ilja Dragunov's WWE push

Ilja Dragunov has been one of the best workers in the WWE since his time in NXT. However, he spent the past several months on the sidelines due to an injury. Immediately upon return, the Mad Dragon was on the receiving end of a major push. However, a former WWE writer pointed out a major issue with this push.

Speaking on an episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing with Russo, Vince Russo compared Ilja Dragunov to Otis, with the exception that the latter is a bigger draw. However, the sports entertainment juggernaut made the huge mistake of not pushing Otis.

"We got our hardcore marks, sing-alongs, whatever you want to call them, and you got our casual audience. If you take Ilja Dragunov and put him next to Otis, and you say, 'Okay, guys, here's the first thing you do. Cut a promo. Okay, no problem. Let me see a five-minute match. Okay, now you've got to decide which one of these guys you've got to pick that's going to draw more.' It's hands down Otis. And look at how they treated him. He's gone for so long, and then he's in that freaking Royal Rumble. This guy is so entertaining. He could have been Ivan Putski circa 2025 if booked correctly. But bro, they keep going for the Aleister Blacks, the Dragunovs, and Sami Zayns."

It will be interesting to see who will be able to dethrone Ilja Dragunov for the United States Championship.

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Edited by Sunil Joseph