Ilja Dragunov to be replaced by 38-year-old WWE Superstar? Exploring potential #1 contender for Bron Breakker's title

On the July 22 edition of Monday Night RAW, Ilja Dragunov was close to having a chance at winning the Intercontinental Championship. At the time, Dragunov faced Bron Breakker to earn the right to challenge then-champion, Sami Zayn. However, The Mad Dragon ended up losing the match to Breakker.

Later, Breakker defeated Zayn to become the Intercontinental Champion at SummerSlam. After the champion defended his title in a two-out-of-three falls match against The Master Strategist on RAW, it seemed like Ilja Dragunov would be the next challenger. But it seems like the Russian has been replaced by Jey Uso.

On Monday Night RAW, Jey Uso mentioned that he would be participating in a tournament next week to determine the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship. With this announcement, the 38-year-old has positioned himself as a favorite to challenge for Breakker's gold.

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If Jey Uso hadn't participated in the Intercontinental Championship number one contender tournament, Ilja Dragunov would have remained a favorite to challenge Bron Breakker. However, given WWE surprises fans regularly, it will be interesting to see what happens when this competition begins.

Ex-WWE writer predicted Bron Breakker would face Ilja Dragunov after SummerSlam

What makes a match between Bron Breakker and Ilja Dragunov interesting is their storied history. Even before the two could lock horns on RAW, they were already rivals during their time in NXT. Hence, both superstars know each other well, which guarantees an epic match.

While Bron Breakker has not defended his Intercontinental Championship against Ilja Dragunov, ex-WWE writer Vince Russo had predicted Breakker would face The Mad Dragon after SummerSlam.

Ahead of The Biggest Party of the Summer, Vince Russo was asked about a potential scenario of what would happen if Breakker dethroned Zayn.

"Bro, knowing them, they're probably gonna bring that Dragunov guy back," he said on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing with Russo. [1:57 – 2:02]

You can check out what Vince Russo said in the video below.

While Breakker did end up dethroning Sami Zayn, he did not face Dragunov. Instead, he defended his title against Zayn on RAW and finished his story with the veteran.

With a tournament now being announced to determine the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship, it will be interesting to see who succeeds. While Jey Uso will be a massive favorite to win, RAW has many superstars who can pull off an upset and proceed to challenge Breakker.

About the author

Varun is a Golf and WWE journalist for Sportskeeda with over 4 years of work experience in his bag. Currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication, he worked for many sites, including EssentiallySports, FanSided, Khel Now, Get Football, and a few others.

Varun is a fan of golfer Scottie Scheffler due to the latter’s mindset, and he admires Roman Reigns’ ability to keep moving forward in life regardless of any obstacles. As a purist golf fan, he would love to compete at the Masters if given the opportunity, but is also happy with LIV Golf driving more eyeballs towards the sport. If he could go back in time and be a manager for someone in the WWE, it would have been Big Show.

Varun’s mantra for writing factually correct feature articles is thorough verification. Another key element in his writing is staying updated with both sports through the official websites of pro wrestling and Golf. He has had the privilege of interviewing MMA legend Greg Jackson in his career so far.

Varun likes to spend his free time reading or writing poetry and fiction. He also plans to learn and play golf in his spare time.

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Edited by Pratik Singh