Ilja Dragunov says his WWE departure “was an accumulation of a lot of things”

Everything I can say is that it’s not as exciting as people have made it out to be. Of course, at some point, you just don’t have creative. You find yourself waiting for the next opportunity because a lot of new people have come along, and a lot of stories are already full. We all know there’s only a certain amount of time available for certain people. There are a lot of things I don’t want to get into too deeply. All I knew was that my contract was expiring and the negotiations weren’t leading anywhere.

To be honest, I’m too discreet and too much of a businessman and gentleman to talk about these kinds of things. All I can say is that nothing felt satisfying, and nothing gave me the perspective of thinking, ‘Okay, I must stick with what I hear.’

There’s one thing you learn, and I’m nothing special in that regard. I’m just a good example. Especially if you come from the indies, where there’s next to no money, you struggle for years to make a living if you’re not a big name. You work a second job, and you eat dirt. Then you have to have some faith. I’ve always had faith in myself. One thing I never did was question my beliefs or question whether I should bet on myself.

For the most part, all I can say is that I had a gut feeling. The beautiful thing is that my gut feeling has never let me down in my life so far, which is impressive. I believe things will work out for me and that I can bet on myself because you have to be honest with yourself about one thing. There are many people who say they’re uncomfortable with their situation. There are many people who say they want change, but that change always requires guts. It requires courage.

It also requires accepting the possibility that things might not work out your way. I was aware of all these things because, as you said, April was the last time I was in the ring. But I’d already had the feeling before then that maybe I wasn’t in the right place anymore, which is healthy. It’s not about blaming anybody because there are a bunch of wonderful people I spent time with during the seven years I was with WWE. Ultimately, it all came down to betting on myself and believing everything would be all right. That’s what I’ve done throughout my entire 14-year professional wrestling career.”