Ilja Dragunov

On the May 15, 2019 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov made his debut for the brand, defeating Jack Starz. He then began a short undefeated streak, defeating Joseph Conners on the June 12 episode, and Ashton Smith on the July 10 episode. However, this ended on the August 15 episode, when Dragunov was defeated by Kassius Ohno. On August 31, at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, Dragunov answered Cesaro's open challenge in a losing effort.

On the October 17 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov defeated Saxon Huxley under the watchful eye of Alexander Wolfe. Following the win, Wolfe applauded Dragunov, which turned into a brief staredown with the Russian when Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner joined him. However, it did not turn into a fight, as Barthel and Aichner walked past Dragunov for their match against The Hunt (Primate and Wild Boar), while Wolfe took him to the back, presumably to convince him to join Imperium. On the November 11 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov seemingly joined Imperium in their ongoing feud with Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang), before allying himself with the Scotsmen, who then proceeded to have a brawl in the ring as the show went off the air. On the November 21 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov was defeated by Wolfe, and after the match, was beaten down by the other members of Imperium before Gallus made the save. On the November 28 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov alongside Gallus, fought Imperium to a double countout. Although he got some offence in on Wolfe, he was mostly overpowered by the other members of Imperium. On the December 5 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov appeared during the main event negotiation segment between Walter and Joe Coffey, for their title match at NXT UK TakeOver: Blackpool II. Walter wanted Dragunov to face Wolfe in a no disqualification match at a future date, but Coffey refused, since Dragunov was not a member of Gallus. Walter then said "No Ilja, no deal", to which Dragunov came out from the back and told Coffey to make the agreement. Following the negotiations, Walter told Dragunov that he had made a bad decision, and the Russian was ambushed by the other members of Imperium before being powerbombed by Wolfe through a table. On the January 2, 2020 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov defeated Wolfe in the no disqualification match. In retaliation, he was beaten down by Barthel and Aichner after the match.

During the main event title match between Walter and Joe Coffey on January 12, 2020 at NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool II, Wolfe interfered in the match attacking Coffey, leading to Dragunov coming out and hitting the *Torpedo Moscow* on Wolfe, which caused Wolfe to accidentally fall on Coffey's left knee, and injure Coffey further. As a result, after NXT UK Tag Team Champions Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) defeated Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch on the February 13, 2020 episode of *NXT UK*, Dagunov came out to confront Coffey and Gallus, but led to a beat down on Dragunov by Coffey and Gallus. This was due to Coffey stating that Dragunov owed “the Gallus firm” a debt, and led to a match between Draganov and Coffey on the February 20, 2020 episode of *NXT UK*, where Dragunov defeated Coffey. After the match, Gallus’ Mark Coffey and Wolfgang appeared in order to commit a post-match assault on Dragunov, but Joe Coffey stopped them and informed Dragunov that he had paid his debt and that matters were now settled. Parallel to the Coffey storyline on *NXT UK*, Dragunov also appeared on *NXT* programming in promos with Finn Bálor. He accepted Balor's challenge to a singles match at Worlds Collide on January 25, where he was defeated.

On the April 2 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov won a 20-man battle royal to become the number one contender for the NXT United Kingdom Championship, last eliminating Tyler Bate. On the September 17 episode of *NXT UK*, after Dragunov defeated Noam Dar, he was confronted by Walter and their feud was reignited. On the October 1 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov made the save on guest referee Pete Dunne, who was being beat down by Walter and Wolfe, following the latter's loss to Dar in the NXT UK Heritage Cup first round. This led to a tag team match between the four men on the October 15 episode of *NXT UK*, in which Dragunov and Dunne were victorious. On the October 22 episode of *NXT UK*, during the contract signing segment, Dragunov was stopped from finishing his catchphrase as he was struck in the face by Walter, who then tore his shirt off and started chopping him. On the October 29 episode of *NXT UK*, he was defeated by Walter by referee stoppage, due to him passing out after being put in a rear naked choke.

Dragunov returned to the brand in January 2021. Haunted by the loss to Walter, he struggled to keep his emotions in check, resulting in his matches ending by referee stoppage. He then had a short feud with Sam Gradwell, who kept trash talking him throughout his match with Tyson T-Bone. On the March 4 episode of *NXT UK*, their first match initially ended by referee stoppage and was changed to a win for Gradwell by disqualification, as Dragunov kept attacking him after the bell. On the March 25 episode of *NXT UK*, the second match (a no disqualification match) ended by referee's decision, after Dragunov forced Gradwell to tap out following several ground-and-pound strikes to the Englishman. On the May 6 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov faced Dave Mastiff, who had offered to fight him the previous week. The bout was cut short due to referee stoppage, as Mastiff had his nose broken, and the storyline of Dragunov's matches ending in this way was scrapped.

On the June 3 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov defeated Dar in a singles match, following an altercation the two had on "Supernova Sessions". He later appeared after the main event, staring down Joe Coffey and Rampage Brown. On the June 24 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov defeated Coffey and Brown in a triple threat match to again become the number one contender for the NXT United Kingdom Championship. Afterwards, Walter held Dragunov in a sleeper hold until he passed out. On the July 15 episode of *NXT UK*, during the in-ring press conference segment, Walter berated and belittled Dragunov. In turn, he told Walter that while he once respected him, he no longer did and all that is left is hate. It was revealed that Walter had a injured hand and was unable to defend the title on July 22. Triple H, Shawn Michaels and William Regal announced that the match would happen a month later, at NXT TakeOver: 36. Dragunov made his debut for *NXT* on the August 10 episode of *NXT*, where he addressed the crowd but was interrupted by Pete Dunne (who, by this point, had turned heel since their brief alliance in *NXT UK*). In the main event, Dragunov was distracted by Walter turning up, leading to him being defeated by Dunne, who countered the *Torpedo Moscow* with a forearm, followed by *The Bitter End*. On the August 17 episode of *NXT*, Dragunov answered Roderick Strong's open challenge in a winning effort. On August 22, at NXT TakeOver: 36, Dragunov defeated Walter by submission, ending the Austrian's two-year hold on the NXT United Kingdom Championship. On the January 27, 2022 episode of *NXT UK*, Dragunov made a successful title defense against Jordan Devlin in an empty arena match. After back and forth verbal shots with Devlin, another match for Dragunov's NXT UK Championship was made, under the stipulation that the loser leaves *NXT UK*. The match would take place on the two-hundredth episode of *NXT UK*, where Dragunov retained his title, and Devlin had to leave the brand. Dragunov was forced to vacate the title on July 7, after he suffered an injury.

On the September 20 episode of *NXT*, Dragunov made his return, interrupting a segment between NXT Champion Bron Breakker and number one contender JD McDonagh. At Stand and Deliver on April 1, 2023, Dragunov would take part in a fatal five-way match for the NXT North American Championship, but failed to win the title. At NXT Battleground on May 28, he defeated Dijak in a Last Man Standing match. On July 30, Dragunov unsuccessfully challenged Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Championship at the Great American Bash, having previously defeated Bron Breakker to earn the right to face Hayes for the championship a few weeks prior. Dragunov was unable to defeat Hayes at the event, however. On September 30, Dragunov defeated Hayes at NXT No Mercy to become the NXT Champion for the first time in his career, while also becoming the first superstar to have held both the NXT and NXT United Kingdom Championships. On the October 10 episode of *NXT,* Dragunov successfully defended the title against NXT North American Champion "Dirty" Dominik Mysterio. On night two of NXT Halloween Havoc on October 31, Dragunov defeated Hayes in a rematch to retain his title, but was attacked by Baron Corbin after the match. At NXT Deadline, Dragunov successfully defended his title against Corbin. On the December 19 episode of *NXT*, Dragunov was challenged to a match for the NXT Championship by a returning Ridge Holland, who was trying to find himself after leaving his tag team partner Butch and to re-write his history, which Dragunov accepted. During the match, Holland dropped Dragunov on his head, where Dragunov seemingly injured his neck and had to be stretchered off. Despite Dragunov signing a title match contract to face Trick Williams, who had won the men's Iron Survivor Challenge at NXT Deadline for a NXT Championship match at New Year's Evil on January 2, 2024, it was later announced that Dragunov was not medically cleared to compete.