Ilja Dragunov reflects on his rivalry with GUNTHER.
During a recent interview with Ryan Satin on Out of Character, NXT star Ilja Dragunov detailed his take on pain after battling “The Ring General” GUNTHER on several occasions.
“Those matches sort of, more than anything else, like you said — I wouldn’t agree that he is pain because I think I am pain because I’m the person overcoming it every single time,” Dragunov said. “It’s not about the person delivering it. It’s not the person who brings it, it’s the person who endures it and overcomes it. This person can define themselves as pain and pain is my friend.
“When I talked about the most horrible years in my life, just physical-wise, I still don’t want to change a thing. I know there will be other years where it’s going to be horrible and exhausting and mentally painful too. But if I can take all this pain and put it into the ring, like putting color on a canvas and painting my own picture, creating my own art — which is wrestling — then I do something in a way that nobody else can ever do this.”
Who Made Who
Regarding the notion that Dragunov and GUNTHER will forever be linked together, the former NXT UK Champion said, “We will see what the time will tell.”
Dragunov was, of course, the man who ended GUNTHER’s historic 870-day NXT UK title reign in 2021. It now stands as one of Dragunov’s greatest accomplishments.
“It feels like one of the greatest accomplishments to me because you’re standing in the ring with one of the absolute best without any doubt,” Dragunov stated. “If there’s one person who made me into this form I am today and this impression the fans have about me, then it was GUNTHER. No one else. That makes the story about me even more deep and even more connectable… I think a lot of people would love to see that again.”
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If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Out of Character with a h/t to WrestleZone for the transcription.
