{"id":224061,"date":"2026-10-22T13:12:35","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T18:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=224061"},"modified":"2026-10-22T13:12:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T18:12:35","slug":"parkss-take-looking-at-ilja-dragunovs-list-of-standout-potential-opponents-on-aew-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/10\/22\/parkss-take-looking-at-ilja-dragunovs-list-of-standout-potential-opponents-on-aew-roster\/","title":{"rendered":"PARKS&#8217;S TAKE: Looking at Ilja Dragunov&#8217;s list of standout potential opponents on AEW roster"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-246791303\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Advertisements\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p>Ilja Dragunov made his AEW last night on Dynamite, defeating &#8220;Speedball&#8221; Mike Bailey in the show&#8217;s main event. The positioning of Dragunov in the last match immediately put him on the map as someone who should be taken seriously by the fans and a threat to the major titles in the company.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/09\/Staff09ParksC_120_3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-31220 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2016\/09\/Staff09ParksC_120_3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"120\" height=\"138\" \/><\/a>Even when he was in WWE, Dragunov always seemed like a better fit for AEW. His hard-hitting, aggressive intensity is much closer stylistically to what AEW offers. In that way, Dragunov was a unicorn in WWE, which actually helped make his matches stand out even more. However, it was clear he was unlikely to get above a certain level on Raw or Smackdown.<\/p>\n<p>With Dragunov now in AEW, there are a ton of enticing matchups for him. Here are a few that are high on my anticipation list:<\/p>\n<p>-Jon Moxley: AEW&#8217;s resident hard hitter could meet his match with Dragunov. In fact, Dragunov would even fit in with the motif of the Death Riders should they look to add a new member.<\/p>\n<p>-Claudio Castagnoli: These two could just end up trading chops and uppercuts for 15 minutes. I&#8217;d be fine with that.<\/p>\n<p>-Konosuke Takeshita: Dragunov&#8217;s European offense melds well with the Japanese strong style, as does his selling. Takeshita would be able to give as well as he takes.<\/p>\n<p><em>ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW&#8230;<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Check out the latest episode of the Wade Keller Podcast weekly Tuesday Flagship: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/episode\/new-flagship-keller-parks-on-clockwork-carnage-copeland-s-retirement-roman-sami-carmelo-ciampa-andrade-wrestledream--75892545\">CLICK HERE<\/a> to stream (or search \u201cwade keller\u201d on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"NEW FLAGSHIP: Keller &amp; Parks on Clockwork Carnage, Copeland's retirement, Roman-Sami, Carmelo, Ciampa-Andrade, WrestleDream\" src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?episode_id=75892545&amp;theme=light&amp;playlist=false&amp;playlist-continuous=false&amp;chapters-image=true&amp;episode_image_position=right&amp;hide-logo=false&amp;hide-likes=false&amp;hide-comments=false&amp;hide-sharing=false&amp;hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"200px\" frameborder=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>-Nick Wayne: Wayne has recently found his stride as an overconfident, cocky heel who fans will want to see his comeuppance. They&#8217;ll also want to see him get bashed around and bruised by the violent Dragunov.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3355389360\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Advertisements\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p>-Samoa Joe: An in-his-prime Samoa Joe vs. Dragunov would feed families in ROH or the indy scene back in the day. Even though Joe is a step slower, he still retains that aggressive nature and cockiness that is reflected in his ring work.<\/p>\n<p>-Kyle O&#8217;Reilly: This would give Dragunov a little bit of a different work in an opponent who prefers to work holds. Dragunov&#8217;s facial reactions have been a strength and he could satisfactorily convey the pain that O&#8217;Reilly&#8217;s holds bring.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Wade Keller Post-show (10\/21) - AEW Dynamite w\/Keller &amp; Halley\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jAML1psKOqg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3393979575\"><div id=\"pwtor-138318736\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Advertisements\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Ilja Dragunov made his AEW last night on Dynamite, defeating &#8220;Speedball&#8221; Mike Bailey in the show&#8217;s main event. The positioning of Dragunov in the last match immediately put him on the map as someone who <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/10\/22\/parkss-take-looking-at-ilja-dragunovs-list-of-standout-potential-opponents-on-aew-roster\/\" title=\"PARKS&#8217;S TAKE: Looking at Ilja Dragunov&#8217;s list of standout potential opponents on AEW roster\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":224062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,57,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opnionandanalysis","category-takes_parks","category-opinion_stafftakes"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2026\/10\/Screenshot-2026-10-22-at-1.08.42-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224061"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224061\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":224063,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224061\/revisions\/224063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}