The Power Slam Podcast - The Young Bucks, Bianca Belair & More

One thing we didn't get to talk about before, 'cause it, it basically dropped either the night after we last recorded modern stuff or the day after, but Ilja Dragunov is no longer, uh, part of WWE.

I don't know if his contract has run out yet, but it's basically either about to run out or it's ran out.

And, uh, I believe that he, um, he elected not to renew.

They would've renewed a contract with him, apparently, uh, but he chose not to.

Uh, and given how little he's been used, you can't blame the guy.

No.

Um, what, what did you, what did you make to this news?

I mean, we shouldn't really be surprised, should we? I mean, he hadn't wrestled since the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, I think that was the last time we saw him.

Yeah.

[laughs]

So that was, like, the night before WrestleMania.

So yeah, I mean, there was talk that he was gonna return after Summer Slam.

Then he didn't.

I think they realized the negot- well, they must have known that negotiations were not going well, and there was a good chance he was gonna be leaving.

So they're like, "Why the hell are we putting this guy on TV when he's gonna be leaving in a number of weeks?" Um, you know, I mean, to be honest with you, Kenny, I knew it was over for him in the Royal Rumble when Brock Lesnar, the way in which Brock Lesnar threw him out the Rumble, you're like, "It's over." You know, he's had that amazing run when he returned from injury in the autumn.

Mm-hmm.

And he was, like, the weekly highlight of SmackDown.

He was, he was, like, some weeks the only thing worth watching.

[laughs]

And he really was.

And you're like, "Wow, this guy's just so over." You know, his work's so believable that people have to...

And his matches are just...

You know, he just puts so much emotion into his matches that people get swept up in it all.

And you're just like, "This guy's, you know, this guy's a can't miss.

He's on his way to the top." And, you know, there was still hope last year.

One thing we didn't get to talk about before, 'cause it, it basically dropped either the night after we last recorded modern stuff or the day after, but Ilja Dragunov is no longer, uh, part of WWE.

I don't know if his contract has run out yet, but it's basically either about to run out or it's ran out.

And, uh, I believe that he, um, he elected not to renew.

They would've renewed a contract with him, apparently, uh, but he chose not to.

Uh, and given how little he's been used, you can't blame the guy.

No.

Um, what, what did you, what did you make to this news?

I mean, we shouldn't really be surprised, should we? I mean, he hadn't wrestled since the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, I think that was the last time we saw him.

Yeah.

[laughs]

So that was, like, the night before WrestleMania.

So yeah, I mean, there was talk that he was gonna return after Summer Slam.

Then he didn't.

I think they realized the negot- well, they must have known that negotiations were not going well, and there was a good chance he was gonna be leaving.

So they're like, "Why the hell are we putting this guy on TV when he's gonna be leaving in a number of weeks?" Um, you know, I mean, to be honest with you, Kenny, I knew it was over for him in the Royal Rumble when Brock Lesnar, the way in which Brock Lesnar threw him out the Rumble, you're like, "It's over." You know, he's had that amazing run when he returned from injury in the autumn.

Mm-hmm.

And he was, like, the weekly highlight of SmackDown.

He was, he was, like, some weeks the only thing worth watching.

[laughs]

And he really was.

And you're like, "Wow, this guy's just so over." You know, his work's so believable that people have to...

And his matches are just...

You know, he just puts so much emotion into his matches that people get swept up in it all.

And you're just like, "This guy's, you know, this guy's a can't miss.

He's on his way to the top." And, you know, there was still hope last year.