As PWMania.com previously reported, former WWE NXT and WWE NXT UK Champion Ilja Dragunov made his highly anticipated return to the company after a lengthy injury absence on last Friday night’s episode of SmackDown.
He defeated Sami Zayn in an open challenge to become the new United States Champion.
According to BodySlam+, Dragunov’s return was originally scheduled for September but was delayed for a few weeks. He finally returned to the ring after being out of action for 382 days due to a torn ACL injury suffered last year.
The report also stated that Dragunov was initially expected to rejoin the RAW roster; however, he was moved to SmackDown because the brand reportedly needed “a bit of a shakeup.” He is now officially part of the SmackDown roster following his title victory over Zayn.
The report indicates that Zayn personally requested Dragunov to take the title from him, leading to a surprising moment for Dragunov right after his return.
Dragunov ended Zayn’s reign, which lasted about seven weeks, having previously won the title from Solo Sikoa on SmackDown in late August.
