Ilja Dragunov makes his return to WWE on SmackDown and wins the United States title

As seen during the October 17th, 2025 edition of WWE SmackDown, Sami Zayn issued an open challenge for the United States Championship, which was answered by the returning Ilja Dragunov. At the end of a back-and-forth match, Solo Sikoa made a brief appearance to distract Zayn, allowing Ilja to take advantage of the situation and become the new champion.

In September of 2024, it was announced that Dragunov would be out for six to nine months due to a suspected ACL tear injury. It was later reported that he had been targeting a return for September of 2025.