NXT UK recap for June 12, 2019: A Wolf in Wolfe’s Clothing

Ilja Dragunov is probably a blast at parties

In a match that’s hyped up as being a big deal despite its eventual result being obvious to anyone paying attention, Ilja Dragunov takes on Joseph Conners. Coming down to the ring in a jacket that is somehow both denim and leather, getting taunted by children at ringside, Conners has a lot to prove. He’s sliding down the NXT UK ladder and is being supplanted as the brand’s “crazy guy” by the much more capable and much more crazy Dragunov.

Getting a Goldberg-esque entrance, but emerging from the back successfully un-concussed, Dragunov has smacked himself a bunch and is ready to go. To quote the scripture, Mojo 20:17, “He don’t get hype, he stay hype.” Once Dragunov is in the ring and that bell sounds, there’s no stopping him. There’s no hurting him either; he enjoys the pain, he shakes it off like a passing chill.

Though Conners does test him a bit, Dragunov gets a pretty easy win. Trying to slingshot over the ropes, Conners gets caught on Dragunov’s shoulders and Death Valley driven into the corner. Then, Dragunov suplexes him and hits his weird finisher where he dives into his opponent but also uppercuts them, yet Nigel keeps telling us it’s a diving headbutt. Who knows.

Honestly, it all still feels kind of goofy, but Dragunov is nonetheless impressive in the ring. Now, lets see him keep it up — the intensity, the constant moving, the grunts that are so exaggerated it’s like he’s in a parody movie — for a match that goes longer than five minutes.