Ilja Dragunov Acknowledges The Value Of Media Appearances; Why He Doesn’t Push For Them

Reigning NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov, in a recent interview with Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert, shared his perspective on engaging in media appearances to promote events and matches.

While he recognizes the importance of communication and the benefits it offers to both the talent and the promotion, Dragunov clarified that he doesn’t pursue media opportunities solely for the sake of it. Here’s a highlight from Dragunov’s insights:

“I’m not the one pushing for this. There’s not something that I feel like I must do. I actually do understand the aspect of communication, talking about certain things and explaining things, and it gives me a good platform to explain my thoughts. Which I absolutely love and enjoy, and I’ve always been a fan of a good conversation. Because I think this is a wonderful thing to do. If you can do it job related, professional related, and I can bring the best to me as a performer, for the company, this is something I most certainly will do.”

On this week’s episode of NXT, Dragunov got the John Cena rub, sharing the ring with him in the opening segment of the show. He was then confronted by Dominik Mysterio and defeated the North American Champion later in the night to retain the NXT Championship. More on that, here.

Full results from this week’s NXT can be found here.