Ilja Rukober (Russian: Илья́ Руко́бер, romanized: Ilʹya Rukober; born 10 October 1993), known by his ring name Ilja Dragunov (Илья Драгунов, Ilʹya Dragunov), is a Russian and German professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure in WWE, where he was a former NXT Champion, NXT United Kingdom Champion, and WWE United States Champion, the first of which made him the first non-kayfabe Russian-born male wrestler to win a championship in the WWE.
Rukober began his career in 2012 on the European independent circuit under the name Ilja Dragunov. He spent seven years with Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw), where he was a former Unified World Wrestling Champion, three-time wXw World Tag Team Champion and two-time wXw Shotgun Champion. He signed with WWE in 2019 and was assigned to the NXT UK and NXT brands, before he was called up to the main roster in 2024. He left the company in 2026.
Throughout his career, Dragunov has had an ongoing rivalry with Walter, with the pair fighting often in wrestling matches in several promotions, starting in wXw, and continuing through to when the pair were both signed to WWE NXT UK in 2019.
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