On August 20, a new report revealed that Ilja Dragunov was leaving WWE after his contract had expired.
Signing with WWE in 2019, Dragunov was viewed as a highly touted prospect.
It did not take “The Mad Dragon” long before he made a significant impact on WWE with his rivalry with GUNTHER on the NXT UK brand.
This led to one of the best matches in WWE history with Dragunov and GUNTHER in October 2020.
During his seven years with the company, Dragunov won the NXT UK Championship, the NXT Championship and the United States Championship.
After losing the US Title at the end of 2025, Dragunov came into 2026 and slowly started seeing himself fall by the wayside with his appearances becoming more and more sporadic and inconsistent.
Following a four-month absence from WWE TV, it made a lot of sense why the former US Champion decided to leave the company.
However, the question is now: will Ilja Dragunov sign with All Elite Wrestling and go on to debut at AEW All In London 2026?
The Men’s Casino Gauntlet was made for Ilja Dragunov
The timing of Ilja Dragunov‘s departure from WWE caught plenty of fans by surprise.
With 10 days remaining before AEW All In London 2026, speculation immediately became that the former WWE star could make the jump in time for the Wembley Stadium show.
Looking at the current lineup for AEW All In London 2026, it feels like a no-brainer for where the company might debut Dragunov on August 30.
If “The Mad Dragon” decides to sign with AEW, the company would be hard-pressed to find a better place to debut him than their biggest pay-per-view of the year.
The Men’s Casino Gauntlet makes its return at AEW All In London 2026 with a shot at the AEW World Title on the line.
For the match, Andrade El Idolo and MJF have qualified to be the #1 and #2 entrants in the bout.
Despite this contest being able to end at any minute, there could be several different stars competing for this opportunity.
From Speedball Mike Bailey and Nick Wayne to Komander and Tommaso Ciampa, plenty of AEW stars have thrown their names in the hat for the Casino Gauntlet.
Looking back at the AEW All In London 2024, Nigel McGuinness making his in-ring return and NJPW’s Zack Sabre Jr. being a surprise entrant made that iteration of the Men’s Casino Gauntlet so memorable.
Now that “The Mad Dragon” is available, Dragunov could be the key to make this Casino Gauntlet one of the best in company history.
Considering the number of top stars are involved, Dragunov could take this bout to the next level on the AEW All In London 2026 card.
Dragunov taking part in the Men’s Casino Gauntlet would put this match in a bigger spotlight and could see the former WWE United States Champion coming in to be positioned as a future AEW World Title challenger right from the start.
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