Michael Cole praises 35-year-old star who nearly dethroned Ilja Dragunov in epic US Title clash on SmackDown

Ilja Dragunov's latest US Title opponent received heavy praise from Michael Cole after coming extremely close to dethroning The Mad Dragon in an unbelievable classic open challenge match on SmackDown.

This week on SmackDown, fans were looking forward to seeing Ilja Dragunov carry Sami Zayn's mantle with the US Title open challenge. Just like Sami Zayn, Dragunov seems to be continuing to pave the road that John Cena did a decade ago. This week, his challenger was none other than the 35-year-old Judgment Day star, JD McDonagh. CM Punk, after becoming the World Heavyweight Champion again, sang his praises and said that if he was having a bad day and McDonagh was having a good one, he could legitimately dethrone The Best in the World. This was a massive endorsement for McDonagh.

Ilja Dragunov went to war with JD McDonagh, and there is no way he didn't walk out with some respect for the Judgment Day superstar. The crowd went wild, chanting, "This is awesome" multiple times, and although Dragunov is still the US Champion, there were numerous instances where McDonagh came close to dethroning him. The match was essentially won by a razor-thin margin, and Michael Cole acknowledged this by praising McDonagh for his efforts. He, like some others, has been endorsing McDonagh for a while.

It's going to be really interesting to see where things go from here. The direction for Dragunov was made clear as he was first confronted backstage by Tama Tonga of the MFT. After that, Tommaso Ciampa confronted him, telling him not to worry about Tama Tonga.

Dragunov responded by calling him a "jacka**" and walking away. That's two names already lining up for a title shot, so perhaps the next couple of open challenges won't be surprise opponents. Either way, Dragunov seems to be embracing the target on his back.

Edited by Rohit Nath