The real reason behind Ilja Dragunov's surprise appearance on SmackDown has been reportedly revealed. The Russian brawler made a shocking return to WWE after being absent for over a year due to an injury.

Sami Zayn personally picked Ilja Dragunov to dethrone him for the U.S. Title. Dragunov returned from injury, answered the open challenge, and won in a match called one of the year's best. Zayn's SmackDown run revived the U.S. Title; he tapped Dragunov to preserve its prestige.

The US Championship victory celebrations of Ilja Dragunov were met with cheating allegations on social media. An ex-WWE star steps up for him.

Seconds after that, the returning Ilja Dragunov answered the call instead, and he ended up dethroning Sami to win the United States Title. What a cracking moment this turned out to be, and it was an unexpected one considering the strength of Zayn’s ...

Dragunov defeated former champion Sami Zayn, whose weekly open challenge was initially accepted by The Miz. Miz, however, was interrupted by Carmelo Hayes, who said "not today" and returned the favor to the "A-List" superstar.