Heel or babyface?: how AEW presents Ilja Dragunov might surprise fans

WWE

With a teaser vignette airing on AEW TV that seems to point to the arrival of Ilja Dragunov, will he be a heel or babyface?

After departing WWE in August 2026 after seven years with the company, it seems the popular star is set for a refresh in AEW.

WWE main roster run was lackluster

Despite being the one to topple GUNTHER‘s record NXT UK Championship reign after signing in 2019 as well as holding the NXT Championship – his main roster run was lackluster.

Holding the WWE United States Championship for just over two months in 2025, Dragunov felt like a character with a ton of potential to be in big showdowns against the likes of CM Punk, Cody Rhodes or Roman Reigns – he just didn’t get there.

After Brock Lesnar no sold a series of vicious chops delivered by Dragunov in the Royal Rumble 2026 before eliminating him – it seemed his momentum was gone. He lost the United States Championship to Carmelo Hayes before disappearing from TV entirely ahead of his departure months later.

AEW’s gray area is perfect

While Draugnov has been considered overwhelmingly a babyface throughout his career, his intense in ring style does lead to some capacity to tease a heel turn.

Arguably the biggest benefit to Ilja Draugnov joining AEW would be the creative freedom that comes from a different audience.

While WWE targets children and families, making the clear split between heels and babyfaces for the most part, AEW has a lot more room for gray area.

With a roster that already features objectively ‘bad guys’ that are wildly popular with the crowd – perhaps a new era of Dragunov could explore more complexity.

Compelling backstory

One piece of Ilja Dragunov’s overall story that didn’t entirely get told to the main roster audience is that of his early years.

With the vignette shown already on AEW featuring simply hands seemingly conducting in front of a metronome and feet running whilst training – two character traits are already made clear.

Not only is Dragunov an intensely hard worker, his history makes for a character that fans want to cheer for.

After moving from Moscow to Germany at the age of five, his personal story of hardship growing up and battling his way through the UK indie wrestling scene has made the star a fan favorite throughout his career.

Able to use the fighting spirit of his career to oppose talent his character deems to be unserious about the sport – there could be an amazing in-between babyface and heel character coming soon in AEW’s Ilja Dragunov.

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• AEW
• wwe
• Ilja Dragunov

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