AEW star Ilja Dragunov appeared on The Battleground Podcast to discuss various topics, including what he learned from his rivalry with WWE star GUNTHER, known as “The Ring General.”
Dragunov said, “It is the value of a true fight. GUNTHER is like a dear friend of mine since — I don’t know, 2015? So, for such a long time, no other person that could, especially in professional wrestling, formed me more than he. [He’s] a mastermind. He is one of the greatest, and he will be one of the greatest of all time when he decides to leave the boots in the ring.”
On how GUNTHER helped shape him as a performer:
“All the biggest peaks of progression I always had when I faced him, it’s just as simple as that. And hey, what I could take is like, directness always gives you the best enhancement of your talents and strengths. So he was always very straightforward with me. No sugarcoating in friendship, also as in business relationships. And you look at him and you look at the physicality and brutality, and the kind of like dominance that he that he expresses and oozes. And especially as a person like I, that was thriving through pain and suffering and connecting with people on a deeper level through that? That’s what I learned from that possibly the most is like, I bet on my strength, and I will always do that.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
