Gunther says feud against rumored WWE call-up is a 'no brainer'

Ahead of this year’s WWE Draft commencing, it was reported that Ilja Dragunov was expected to be a ‘lock’ for the main roster.
Dragunov dropping the NXT Championship to Trick Williams on the April 23 edition of NXT fuelled rumors that he’s preparing to move on from the gold brand.

Speaking with Gorilla Position, Gunther praised Dragunov, noting that he’s expecting his former rival to “explode”:
“I think somebody that will do great going forward is Ilja. I think that’s somebody that is kind of like waiting to explode right now. He just wrestled on Raw.
“The draft is coming up, so let’s see where that heads. But I think he would be the guy that I would single out right now that performs at a stage that he’s – I would say almost too advanced for right now.

Noting that he thinks Dragunov would be a better opponent for him, rather than a new member of Imperium, Gunther said:
“I think Ilja is definitely a better enemy than a friend. And yeah, it has to come down to that. Ilja is one of us in the terms of like – (Ludwig) Kaiser, Ilja, and I, we all wrestled each other years back.
“So I naturally want him to be where I am. And I think he’s somebody that brings out the best in me and I’m someone that brings out the best in him.
“But I think before that can happen, he has his own way to go, wherever he ends up. And further down the line, I think it’s a no-brainer that this has to happen a few times.”

Gunther and Dragunov were highly praised for their two WWE singles matches, with Gunther first defeating Dragunov to retain his NXT UK Title on the October 29, 2020 episode of NXT UK.
Dragunov later won the gold from Gunther at NXT TakeOver 36 in 2021, forcing the Ring General to submit to end his 870 day reign with the championship.
Carmelo Hayes, Kiana James and Baron Corbin were moved to the main roster during the first night of the WWE Draft on the April 26 edition of SmackDown.
The WWE Draft will continue on Monday’s edition of Raw.