Backstage News On WWE Star Ilja Dragunov's Current Recovery Progress Following Injury

Ilja Dragunov tore his ACL in September during a WWE live event, with an injury like that typically keeping a wrestler on the shelf for anywhere between six and nine months. Dragunov's injury was only four months ago, but according to Fightful Select, the Russian was spotted inside the WWE Performance Center this week, and he was wearing "workout gear." The report noted that it wasn't clear if Dragunov was working out in the ring or simply having his recovery process evaluated.

The most recent update on Dragunov's injury recovery came last week, with sources spotting the wrestler at the PC, but not wearing wrestling gear. Instead, it was believed that Dragunov was undergoing standard training, though that may have changed by now.

Dragunov's knee injury took place during a match against his rival, current World Heavyweight Champion GUNTHER. Their rivalry dates back more than a decade to their time in German independent promotion wXw, when GUNTHER was still known as WALTER. Dragunov and GUNTHER have persisted as enemies throughout their time on "WWE NXT UK," into NXT proper, and then on the main roster.

Just a few months prior to his torn ACL, Dragunov went from being WWE NXT Champion to receiving a "WWE Raw" call-up. After joining the main roster, Dragunov had a series of matches against opponents like Sami Zayn, Bron Breakker, Jey Uso, and more, before going down with the injury in September.

Unless Dragunov is progressing way ahead of schedule, he shouldn't be expected to return to TV until right around WWE WrestleMania 41, if not a few months later. Based on the way Dragunov was booked in the short time he's been on the main roster, it seems likely WWE and booker Paul "Triple H" Levesque have big things planned for the 31-year-old, which could include some attempted revenge on GUNTHER.