Report: Sami Zayn Pitched To LOSE United States Title To Ilja Dragunov (WWE News)

Ilja Dragunov returned and won gold on last week's WWE SmackDown.

by Andrew Pollard
Ilja Dragunov Sami Zayn
WWE.com

With Ilja Dragunov having made his long-awaited WWE return on last week's SmackDown, defeating Sami Zayn to become the new WWE United States Champion, it appears that this title switch was partly down to Zayn himself.

Per BodySlam.net, Sami pitched the idea for the Mad Dragon to dethrone him as the United States Champion, believing that the title win would elevate both Dragunov and the US Title, and would serve as a great way to reintroduce Ilja back into the fold as a significant player.

For Ilja Dragunov, that return match was his first action for over a year, with the former NXT Champion having suffered a torn ACL in September 2024 during a live event bout against his long-time rival Gunther. While Ilya had been medically cleared for the past couple of months, it'd been reported that WWE was waiting for the right creative plans to bring him back to TV. And now, not only is Dragunov back, but he's switched from Raw to SmackDown and is the new United States Champion.

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That loss to Ilja brought Sami Zayn's first US Title reign to a halt at 49 days, with the veteran having defeated Solo Sikoa for that prize back in August, then defended the gold in open challenges against Rey Fenix, Carmelo Hayes, Je'Von Evans, Aleister Black, and Shinsuke Nakamura, not to mention Sami's first title defence being against John Cena. Given how Solo and his MFTs have gotten in Zayn's business in recent weeks, it looks like Sami and certain friends will continue to battle with Sikoa's group for the foreseeable future, with some fans even speculating that might involve WarGames next month.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.