Among the many saddened by Ilja Dragunov’s recent WWE departure is AJ Styles.
Former WWE star Styles recently expressed frustration about Dragunov reportedly exiting the company last week upon the end of his latest contract.
Dragunov is a former NXT UK Champion and WWE United States Champion. After spending months out of the ring, news broke last week that the Russian star opted not to sign a new deal with the company, instead hitting the free agency market.
While Styles said he didn’t have many details regarding Dragunov’s exit, he summed up his thoughts on the exit with two words: “Holy crap.”
Here’s what he said on the latest episode of his podcast:
“I don’t know anything about it. I know that I’m very sad about this situation. I enjoy his work very much, so, I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t say much about it. You’d think I’d know, I work for the company, but my place is in the coaching and the talent and little things to hopefully help WWE better and build that foundation for them, and stuff like that. I just know, ‘holy crap,’ that’s all I know … I’ll be the first one to tell you, I thought the guy was awesome.”
It’s unclear what’s next for Dragunov, who is now a free agent for the first time since 2019.
