Why should Ilja Dragunov be next WWE Intercontinental champion?

Ilja Dragunov joined the Monday Night RAW roster earlier this year following a successful stint in NXT.

Ilja Dragunov has proven himself to be a remarkable and physically strong WWE superstar of this generation. The Mad Dragon has all the tools to succeed as a top-tier superstar, shades of which were evident when Dragunov first burst on the scene back in 2019 in WWE’s former developmental territory in the United Kingdom, NXT UK.

During his time in NXT UK, he garnered immense success, which led to him moving up to the ranks of the main NXT brand in the USA.

In the Black and Gold brand, Ilja Dragunov had some memorable in-ring performances against top stars like Gunther and Bron Breakker and even captured the NXT Championship.

However, after losing the NXT Championship to Trick Williams earlier this year, Ilja Dragunov was called up to the main roster. The Mad Dragon found himself drafted to the RAW brand as part of the WWE Draft 2024. He had a promising start with spectacular performances in the King of the Ring tournament and subsequent matches, including the WWE Intercontinental Championship.

Why does Ilja Dragunov need to become the Intercontinental champion on RAW?

Following a decent start, Ilja Dragunov either found himself lost in the shuffle or did not appear on WWE television at all for weeks. Moreover, the dominant Dragunov was shown to be highly vulnerable following his encounters with the current Intercontinental Champion, Bron Breakker. This sparked concerns among the fans that Dragunov would only be relegated to the bottom of the card.

However, Ilja Dragunov recently picked up a huge win in a triple-threat match on RAW this week. This was part of the Intercontinental Championship tournament, which is set to culminate next week on RAW with a Fatal 4-Way match to determine Bron Breakker’s challenger.

Considering the talent and captivating personality of Ilja Dragunov, WWE needs to book him to win the Tournament and subsequently defeat Bron Breakker to capture the workhorse title, ensuring a top-tier star like him gets a push and doesn’t get lost in the shuffle again.

Moreover, much like they did with Bron Breakker and built him up as a cornerstone for RAW, the same path can be followed for Dragunov as well, with the Intercontinental title as the catalyst.

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