AEW star Ilja Dragunov appeared on TMZ’s Inside The Ring podcast to discuss various topics, including the significance of his WrestleDream 2026 entrance.
Dragunov said, “This entrance already meant the world for me. The music that I had is the music that I had in the beginning of my career. To have this back means everything to me because my most memorable moments were all connected to that, in my humble indie days, and just the atmosphere of the arena, the warm welcoming of the people, the entire world that AEW put into that detail by detail, and the devotion of working together on that and making this beautiful day, this beautiful beginning possible, is something that I possibly will carry in my heart for the rest of my life.”
On how his entrance was a collective effort from him and AEW:
“Professional wrestling, in its best form, is a play, and it’s a play together. When it comes down to the first vignettes that were passing on with the perspectives from my other hometown, Dressen, when it comes down to the parts with the metronome, when it comes down to the music, which came specifically from me, but all the different layers, like conducting the Pyro that came out of the entrance stage, that, like, so many things came from AEW’s side, from my side, but somehow, we were always on the same page with everything, and everything they offered me was always better.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
