AEW's Ilja Dragunov has started off with a bang in his new promotion, debuting thunderously at AEW WrestleDream and then defeating "Speedball" Mike Bailey in his first match a few days later on "AEW Dynamite." At the same time, his media appearances have seen him relive his time in WWE, particularly the reason he decided to let his WWE contract expire and head to AEW. In an interview with Jon Alba of "The Takedown on SI," Dragunov admitted he had been thinking about a career change for some time before his contract came due."It's been a very complicated time for me," Dragunov said. "But you see, I came back from my ACL tear...[which] that happened in the most unexciting way possible. I worked my way through three rehabs, and was training very hard and was very dedicated. I came back, and I won the United States Championship, basically on my return, which was an awesome, memorable moment."But then, at certain times after I dropped the belt and I was going through my next performances, I felt...just like, in my gut, things are different. And I don't blame anybody. I'm a gentleman, and I've way too much respect for the last seven years, the most of my 20s, that I spent with the company. But I felt like it is fine for me, and reasonable to ask myself 'Is there more? Is there a new era I can breathe?'"While it's still too early to tell where Dragunov will find himself in the overall standing of the AEW roster, he's so far very happy with how his debut has gone, having described himself as feeling "freedom" ever since he walked through the curtain at WrestleDream.If you quote this article, please credit "The Takedown w/SI" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
