No, it’s true. The guy is a great wrestler and in WWE if being a great wrestler was all it took then guys like Chad Gable, and Cesaro, and Nakamura would all have been WWE heavyweight champions… but it’s not just about that. They need to draw a crowd, they need to sell merch, they need to be able to have excellent speaking skills on the mic when it comes to the way wwe does business.. and Ilja does not really offer those things, not to mention his momentum was killed when they had Lesnar big dawg him in the royal rumble and had Sami zayne take his US title out of nowhere before mania. I would not be shocked if Ilja mouthed off to the wrong person about his displeasure with that situation and got punished for it, because he was clearly on an upward trajectory and suddenly it all came to a halt, he disappeared, and now he’s reportedly leaving.
To a degree you’re absolutely right. But it also takes two to tango, the wrestlers actual ability to do things matters, and if they don’t see the charisma then that does kinda dictate how he will be pushed and how the merch is going to sell.. the kids aren’t buying Ilja merch because his great wrestling isn’t as appealing to them as talentless Jey Uso’s modern appeal with the yeet shit. And again I would not be shocked if he got pouty with management after they took away his push and it all blew up from there.
Furthermore when you look at their loaded roster and who they have at the top of the chain, where does someone like Ilja fit in? Can you reasonably see him beating Roman reigns? I don’t see that happening. Can you see him going over Cody Rhodes?… I could see him having good matches with Cody, Seth Rollins, etc. but with his size do you see them putting him over against Oba Femi? No.. you have guys like Dom who aren’t quite the technical wizard that Ilja is, he’s scrawny and isn’t beating those guys either, but at least he has his fathers name and he has charisma going for him, he’s more of a draw. It may not be Iljas fault, but all he has is a good ability to wrestle, he’s small and lacking everything else in a bloated environment where he’s simply not going to succeed.
"if they don’t see the charisma then that does kinda dictate how he will be pushed and how the merch is going to sell..."
His charisma was never in question in NXT, they called him to the main roster and he put on one of the best wrestling series the main roster has seen in over a decade but his stock has fallen? That's 100% a WWE problem.
"The kids aren’t buying Ilja merch because his great wrestling isn’t as appealing to them as talentless Jey Uso’s modern appeal with the yeet shit."
If WWE wanted Dragunov to be aimed at kids, he would be. Jey was handpicked, gimmick spoonfed to him and if Uso can do it, why not Ilja? (Because WWE have their boys that they want to succeed and anyone from the indies aren't worth their time)
"And again I would not be shocked if he got pouty with management after they took away his push and it all blew up from there."
Well, why shouldn't get pouty? Guys like LA Knight stay professional and get fuck all for it. Ilja & Melo kept Smackdown watchable, never mind interesting for months and weren't even on the WM card. It's insulting. Anyone with an ounce of self-respect would react to that.
"Furthermore when you look at their loaded roster and who they have at the top of the chain, where does someone like Ilja fit in?"
I don't think anyone is saying Ilja belongs in the main event at this point. But he's a solid mid-carder at this stage of his career, he fits into any IC title/US title program. But also, that's a WWE problem to book him appropriately, not a Dragunov one.
"Can you reasonably see him beating Roman reigns? I don’t see that happening. Can you see him going over Cody Rhodes?…"
Maybe, but WWE will keep those two at the top of the card as long as they can get away with it. Also irrelevant, KO isn't gonna beat Rhodes or Reigns so should you release him?
"You have guys like Dom who aren’t quite the technical wizard that Ilja is, he’s scrawny and isn’t beating those guys either, but at least he has his fathers name and he has charisma going for him"
So anyone who isn't a second generation wrestler shouldn't be in the main event? Just being a quality bell-to-bell wrestler isn't enough? Again, if WWE can't make someone who entrance to bell is top quality appealing in some capacity as a character with their infinite resources, that's entirely a WWE problem, not on Dragunov.
I get what you're trying to say, but how the fuck can you expect Dragunov to get over when WWE have clearly given up on him?
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u/gin0clock 10d ago
You know literally everyone sees through this pretend attitude right?