Ilja Dragunov

On 14 May 2018 at Super Strong Style 16, wXw general manager Christian Michael Jakobi arrived in Progress Wrestling, and challenged Pete Dunne to a match with Dragunov at an undetermined date.[7] At Chapter 69, Dragunov appeared in the promotion for the first time, squaring off with Dunne, much to Jakobi's delight.[8] At Chapter 72, Dunne accepted the challenge and the match would be set at Progress' upcoming event at Wembley Arena.[9] At Chapter 75, Jakobi continued to insult Dunne, to which he would drag Jakobi to the ring to attack him, before Dragunov made the save and the two faced off again.[10] During Progress' tour of Germany, at the Oberhausen show, Dunne called out Dragunov, following British Strong Style's win over Rise (Ivan Kiev, Lucky Kid and Pete Bouncer). Once again, the two had a scuffle which had to be broken up by the officials.[11] On 1 October, Dragunov's debut match for Progress ended in defeat, when Dunne trapped Dragunov’s arm and then manipulated his hand to force the submission.[12]

Dragunov began 2019 with a win over Timothy Thatcher at Chapter 83,[13] but did not appear for the promotion until Super Strong Style 16. On night one, Dragunov defeated Chris Brookes in the first round.[14] On night two, he quickly defeated Trevor Lee in the quarter-final,[15] and on night three, he was in a three way elimination match in the semi-final with David Starr and Travis Banks. Dragunov was the first wrestler to be eliminated when Banks defeated him by pinfall.[16] At Chapter 91, he defeated Jordan Devlin in a number one contender match for the Unified World Championship,[17] but the following day, at Chapter 92, he was defeated by Walter.[18]

At Chapter 95, Dragunov took part in a rumble match for the Proteus Championship, which replaced the Atlas Championship. Dragunov entered in at number two in the match, and eliminated Niwa, TK Cooper and Chuck Mambo, before he and William Eaver simultaneously eliminated each other.[19][20] From October to December, he was involved in a series of matches with Cara Noir. Having traded wins over each other at Chapter 96 and Chapter 97,[21][22] the feud was ended at Chapter 99 in a two out of three falls match, in which Dragunov lost.[23]

During January 2019, it was reported that Rukober would be signing with WWE, with the intention of performing for the promotion's NXT UK brand.[24] He previously had a tryout for the promotion in November 2013, but suffered a skull injury which kept him out for almost a year.[25] He had a second tryout in Cologne during WWE's European tour in November 2018, where he was said to have "turned heads".[26] On February 27, 2019, WWE officially announced his signing.[26]

On the May 15 episode of NXT UK (taped April 19), Dragunov made his debut for the brand, defeating Jack Starz.[25] He then began a short undefeated streak, defeating Joseph Conners on the June 12 episode (taped April 20),[27] and Ashton Smith on the July 10 episode (taped June 16).[28] However, this ended on the August 15 episode (taped July 19), when Dragunov was defeated by Kassius Ohno.[29] On August 31, at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, Dragunov answered Cesaro's open challenge in a losing effort.[30]

On the October 17 episode of NXT UK (taped October 4), 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.[31]

On the November 11 episode of NXT UK (taped October 5), 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.[32] On the November 21 episode of NXT UK (taped November 15), Dragunov was defeated by Wolfe, and after the match, was beaten down by the other members of Imperium before Gallus made the save.[33] On the November 28 episode of NXT UK (taped November 15), 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, including a call back to the 2017 xXw 16 Carat Gold final with its leader Walter.[34]

On the December 5 episode of NXT UK (taped November 15), 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 really bad decision, and the Russian was ambushed by the other members of Imperium before being powerbombed by Wolfe through a table.[35] On the January 2, 2020 episode of NXT UK (taped November 16, 2019), Dragunov defeated Wolfe in the no disqualification match. In retaliation, he was beaten down by Barthel and Aichner after the match.[36]

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.[37] As a result, after NXT UK Tag Team Champions Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) defeated Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch on the February 13, 2020 episode of NXT UK, Dragunov came out to confront Coffey and Gallus, but led to a beat down on Dragunov by Coffey and Gallus.[38] 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.[39]