WWE made huge mistake with Ilja Dragunov’s push; wrestling veteran claims fans won’t care (Exclusive)

Former WWE head writer Vince Russo recently spoke about Ilja Dragunov's recent return. The star is the new United States Champion.

Dragunov showed up last week on SmackDown. He answered Sami Zayn's United States Championship Open Challenge. The two stars had a stellar match. At the end of the electrifying encounter, Ilja hit the Torpedo and an H-Bomb to win the US title.

During the latest episode of Writing with Russo, the veteran writer noted that fans would not care about Ilja Dragunov. He pointed out that if casual fans noticed Ilja and compared him to a star like Otis, they would rally behind the Alpha Academy member. Russo felt Otis was a great entertainer and had the look to become a prominent star like Ivan Putski, but WWE never bothered to book him like a megastar.

"We got our hardcore marks, singalongs, 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."

After the match, Sami Zayn and Ilja Dragunov fell victim to an attack by the MFTs. Solo Sikoa and his band of henchmen attacked the two exhausted stars and left them lying in the middle of the ring.

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Edited by Prityush Haldar