Ilja Dragunov

Ilya Rukober (Илья́ Руко́бер; born 10 October 1993) is a Russian-German professional wrestler.

He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Ilja Dragunov (Илья Драгунов) and is the current NXT Champion in his first reign.

He is a former one-time NXT United Kingdom Champion.

Prior to signing with WWE, Dragunov competed on the European independent circuit and is also known for his time with Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), where he is a former one-time wXw Unified World Wrestling Champion, three-time wXw World Tag Team Champion and two-time wXw Shotgun Champion.

Rukober is the first non-kayfabe Russian male wrestler to compete in the WWE, and is also the first Russian-born champion in the company's history.

Rukober was born in Moscow, Russia and migrated to Berlin, Germany with his mother when he was five years old.

Neither he nor his mother could speak the German language.

Prior to entering wrestling, Rukober worked various jobs from a young age to help provide for his family, including working at a pizza parlor and a gas station.

Rukober started his professional wrestling training at the German Wrestling Federation (GWF) training school under veterans Axel Tischer (who wrestled for WWE under the ring name Alexander Wolfe) and Rick Baxxter.

He made his in-ring debut in 2012.

A year later, he became a regular with wXw and would remain there until signing with WWE.

He previously had a tryout for the promotion in November 2013, but suffered a skull injury which kept him out for almost a year.

On 14 May 2018 at Super Strong Style 16, wXw general manager Christian Michael Jakobi arrived in Progress Wrestling, and challenged Pete Dunne to a match with Dragunov at an undetermined date.

At Chapter 69, Dragunov appeared in the promotion for the first time, squaring off with Dunne, much to Jakobi's delight.

At Chapter 72, Dunne accepted the challenge and the match would be set at Progress' upcoming event at Wembley Arena.

At Chapter 75, Jakobi continued to insult Dunne, to which he would drag Jakobi to the ring to attack him, before Dragunov made the save and the two faced off again.

During Progress' tour of Germany, at the Oberhausen show, Dunne called out Dragunov, following British Strong Style's win over Rise (Ivan Kiev, Lucky Kid and Pete Bouncer).

Once again, the two had a scuffle which had to be broken up by the officials.

On 1 October, Dragunov's debut match for Progress ended in defeat, when Dunne trapped Dragunov's arm and then manipulated his hand to force the submission.

He had a second tryout in Cologne during WWE's European tour in November 2018, where he was said to have "turned heads".

Dragunov began 2019 with a win over Timothy Thatcher at Chapter 83, but did not appear for the promotion until Super Strong Style 16.

On night one, Dragunov defeated Chris Brookes in the first round.

On night two, he quickly defeated Trevor Lee in the quarter-final, and on night three, he was in a three way elimination match in the semi-final with David Starr and Travis Banks.

Dragunov was the first wrestler to be eliminated when Banks defeated him by pinfall.

At Chapter 91, he defeated Jordan Devlin in a number one contender match for the Unified World Championship, but the following day, at Chapter 92, he was defeated by Walter.

At Chapter 95, Dragunov took part in a rumble match for the Proteus Championship, which replaced the Atlas Championship.

Dragunov entered in at number two in the match, and eliminated Niwa, TK Cooper and Chuck Mambo, before he and William Eaver simultaneously eliminated each other.

From October to December, he was involved in a series of matches with Cara Noir.

Having traded wins over each other at Chapter 96 and Chapter 97, the feud was ended at Chapter 99 in a two out of three falls match, in which Dragunov lost.

During January 2019, it was reported that Rukober would be signing with WWE, with the intention of performing for the promotion's NXT UK brand.

On 27 February 2019, WWE officially announced his signing.

On 15 May episode of NXT UK (taped 19 April), Dragunov made his debut for the brand as a fan favorite, defeating Jack Starz.

He then began a short undefeated streak, defeating Joseph Conners on 12 June episode (taped 20 April), and Ashton Smith on 10 July episode (taped 16 June).

However, this ended on 15 August episode (taped 19 July), when Dragunov was defeated by Kassius Ohno.

On 31 August, at NXT UK TakeOver: Cardiff, Dragunov answered Cesaro's open challenge in a losing effort.

On 17 October episode of NXT UK (taped 4 October), Dragunov defeated Saxon Huxley under the watchful eye of Alexander Wolfe.

Following the win, Wolfe applauded Dragunov, which turned into a brief staredown with the Russian when Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner joined him.

However, it did not turn into a fight, as Barthel and Aichner walked past Dragunov for their match against The Hunt (Primate and Wild Boar), while Wolfe took him to the back, presumably to convince him to join Imperium.

On 11 November episode of NXT UK (taped 5 October), Dragunov seemingly joined Imperium in their ongoing feud with Gallus (Joe Coffey, Mark Coffey and Wolfgang), before allying himself with the Scotsmen, who then proceeded to have a brawl in the ring as the show went off the air.

On 21 November episode of NXT UK (taped 15 November), Dragunov was defeated by Wolfe, and after the match, was beaten down by the other members of Imperium before Gallus made the save.