Ilja Dragunvov addresses Brock Lesnar no-selling his offense at the 2026 Royal Rumble

But honestly, as I’ve said before, if you really understand the persona I’ve portrayed in the ring for most of my career, I’ve been facing monsters, you know? At the end of the day, you can’t change certain things. When you have someone like Brock Lesnar standing in front of you, most people would run away as soon as that happens. That’s simply what would happen. But as a persona, as Ilja Dragunov, who’s tough mentally and physically, I think I did the best I could with what I was given and how the whole situation unfolded. I can’t change anything about it, but my best career moments have come from my vulnerability. I didn’t become a name by being the person who dominates at all times. I made a name for myself in moments when I was beaten down, sometimes badly. I don’t know how good the camera angle is, but my nose actually turns to the right because it’s been broken a couple of times.

But it’s always been about how I fought back and recovered from those moments because they make great stories. So I don’t see it as a defeat. I’m glad people are upset on my behalf, and maybe things could have worked out differently. I don’t know that today, but I can tell you that I haven’t given it a second or third thought.

I just celebrated a beautiful, beautiful next chapter in my career. I definitely made a name for myself. I was highly successful in NXT UK, and I was highly successful in NXT. I still consider myself pretty successful on the main roster because, again, I have a beautiful fan base.

But I was never the kind of character who appealed to everyone. For me, it’s very clear that there are only two categories of people watching my work. Either they’re completely behind me and really understand me and get emotionally invested in me, or they’re at the opposite end of the spectrum and think I’m the cringiest person in the world, and whatnot. I don’t even know all the criticism directed at me, but I love it that way because people care. That’s what you want to do as a performer. You want to make people care, and you’re not a good performer if you’re not polarizing the masses.”