Dragon Lee Contract Update - AEW Full Gear Main Event - Ilja Dragunov Discusses WWE Offer

Name: Dragon Lee Contract Update - AEW Full Gear Main Event - Ilja Dragunov Discusses WWE Offer
Uploaded: 2026-10-22T05:18:44+00:00
Duration: 13 min 49 s
Channel: FroWrestling Podcast

00:00Pro, pro, pro, wrestling podcast.

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03:44This episode, welcome.

03:46Thank you for joining me.

03:47I am Dr. Fro.

03:48We're going to be going into some of the day's news and rumors.

03:50And let's be honest, it's been a whirlwind of activity the last couple days between the arrival of Ilya Dragunov

03:57in AEW,

03:58conversations about other people who may be headed there, like Kairi Sane, things like that.

04:02When it comes to Ilya Dragunov, though, he has disclosed a little bit more about his decision to go to

04:08AEW,

04:08mentioning that the financial offer that was made to him by WWE,

04:13because if you remember, the early reporting was that WWE did want to retain him,

04:17and they did make an offer to him, but he turned the offer down.

04:20Well, now he has described the WWE offer as not being satisfying.

04:26Now, I don't know if that has to do with the number of dates, the amount of money,

04:30if that has to do with merchandise, royalties, or whatnot,

04:34but you have to assume, based on that conversation,

04:37that it had to have some monetary connection.

04:40In addition, maybe it had to do with some creative.

04:43I mean, look, in AEW, it seems like the talent can get a little more say in what they do.

04:47He'll have a little more opportunity to work with some people who really can wrestle and really can go,

04:51which can be very exciting for a young talent.

04:55But WWE, they micromanage so much,

04:57and they don't leave as much to, like, naturally ebb and flow the way some wrestlers like to do,

05:02especially when they come from that incredible British wrestling scene.

05:06So, you know, I don't know exactly where this is going to, you know, in terms of the future,

05:11I don't know that we'll ever see Dragunov back in the WWE ring,

05:14simply because he's probably going to really enjoy the level of freedom that he's getting currently in AEW.

05:22From there, let's talk to somebody else who used to be AEW, was WWE, went to AEW, came back.

05:26We're talking Sean Spears.

05:28He is in NXT.

05:29He does perform on a, we'll call it a sporadic basis,

05:34but now word is coming out that he is actually hinting at winding down his in-ring career

05:39and heading towards in-ring, at least, retirement.

05:42He has done quite a bit, you know, in his wrestling career.

05:45Not Mr. Champion.

05:46He's not like Mr. World Champion, North American Champion, anything like that.

05:49But he's been a solid contributor.

05:51He's had some very memorable moments, both in WWE, whether he was in NXT,

05:56whether he was Ty Dillinger, number 10, coming into the Royal Rumble at number 10,

06:01whether he was in AEW with the chair shots and whatnot.

06:04He's done some things that he's left his little mark on the industry.

06:08And if he is indeed calling it a career in terms of his in-ring performing,

06:12you know he's going to have an opportunity to be a trainer at the Performance Center.

06:15He's already doing a lot of that now,

06:16which is actually becoming more and more a part of what he does.

06:19But if this is indeed the end of his career,

06:23as much as I just said all that positive stuff,

06:25I do have to feel like maybe there was some missed opportunity early on.

06:29The Ty Dillinger character coming to the main roster and that, you know,

06:33Perfect 10 persona could have really gone someplace.

06:37And he was really organically over with the crowd.

06:40People love that gimmick.

06:42But unfortunately, WWE went away from it.

06:45They didn't lean into his character.

06:46He eventually got released, went to AEW.

06:49He really didn't have any appearances of regularity there as well for quite a while

06:54before he left there and came back to WWE.

06:56Since being in NXT again, he's had some really solid matches.

07:00But he's off TV more than he's on TV.

07:02So you kind of get the vibe in the air already that maybe this was coming to an end

07:07and maybe this is just the acknowledgement of what was to come.

07:11Back to AEW for a moment.

07:12It is very clear and Dave Meltzer agrees that AEW is working towards the main event of Full Gear,

07:19which is coming soon, is going to probably be Will Ospreay defending the AEW World Heavyweight Championship

07:25against Adam Copeland, formerly known as Edge in WWE.

07:28And this is a match that, look, I'll be honest with you, I really want to see.

07:31I didn't want to see it at Full Gear.

07:33And let me explain why.

07:34There's two reasons why.

07:35One, nobody is beating Will Ospreay at Full Gear for the World Championship.

07:39So whoever you put there, you already know is losing.

07:43So it takes some of the luster away from the match.

07:45More importantly, this show, Full Gear, and I'm not trying to get all sad and sentimental,

07:51but the reason it has the name that it has is because of Benjamin Satterley,

07:56formerly known as Pac before his untimely passing.

07:59Because he recently passed away, I would really have expected

08:03one of his, like, right-hand best friends to be the challenger for the World Championship

08:08in his honor at that show, just because the show is kind of named after him.

08:13He always shows up in Full Gear, ready to go, was the backstage conversation about it.

08:18The fact that it'll be Adam Copeland, yes, it's a big name.

08:21It's still a match I'll be very excited to see, no matter when it happens.

08:24But I really would have liked to see them tie something into Ben Satterley

08:27because he is the namesake of the show.

08:30But that is unfortunately not the case.

08:32I hope they find some way to, you know, attribute something to him

08:36if that story really is true, that he's the reason it has that name.

08:41But in either event, this World Championship match is,

08:45it's almost like a dream match.

08:46You didn't think you'd see, if this was five years ago,

08:48you never would have thought you'd have seen an Adam Copeland

08:50versus Will Ospreay match.

08:52One, I never thought Will was going to come to the United States

08:54because he was so entrenched in New Japan.

08:56And I thought Edge was going to be a lifer in WWE.

08:59I really did.

08:59So to have these two going at it now, very exciting.

09:04Obviously, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity now that Edge has announced his imminent retirement in 2027.

09:09So I'm just glad we're going to get to see some of these matches before he's gone.

09:12From there, somebody who's not going anywhere.

09:15The word has been, the conversation has been flying around a lot lately

09:19about Dragon Lee, Drillistico, Roosh, the three brothers.

09:23Talk about whether they were going to stay where they are, move on.

09:25Well, I feel like we've got a lot of answers coming with today's news.

09:30That Dragon Lee has signed a multi-year extension with WWE to be a big part of their plans going

09:37forward.

09:37And that puts to rest any conversation of him leaving WWE to form a tag team with his brother

09:43and go use that tag team name that they licensed and patented only recently.

09:47However, with Drillistico's contract situation being what it is, with Dragon Lee signing this extension,

09:53I almost feel like we get some clarity for Drillistico as well.

09:56Because if Dragon Lee has signed a WWE for multiple years and they just copyright that name,

10:01that makes a lot of sense that Drillistico will be considering coming to WWE

10:05when his contract with AEW expires and teaming with his brother.

10:09Because I don't foresee them making Dragon Lee world champion ever,

10:14maybe Intercontinental champion, maybe United States champion, something like that,

10:17but I don't see as a world champion,

10:19being a team with his brother could actually be very advantageous

10:22and give him some really important stuff to do that he could sink his teeth into.

10:26And that's an exciting prospect if you're a Dragon Lee fan.

10:31One other thing before we wrap it up for this episode,

10:34Sarah Rowe and her husband Eric from the Viking Raiders,

10:38congratulations go out to the two of them.

10:40They just welcomed the third child of the family into the family.

10:45And it's pretty exciting for them that they've made such a name for themselves in the business.

10:50They're able to have Sarah stay home and be that Viking stay-at-home mother,

10:56if that makes any sense.

10:58But I'm happy for her.

11:00They love their lifestyle.

11:00They love everything about what they've been able to enjoy the spoils of their labor.

11:05And this is just another opportunity to celebrate her.

11:08She took a step back from entering competition to become a mom.

11:12And she's now a mom three times over.

11:14I don't anticipate she'll ever come back.

11:16And not for any negative reason.

11:18I think she left up to be on great terms.

11:19I just don't think it's in the cards for her

11:22because I think she's really focused on those maternal responsibilities.

11:26And why not?

11:27It's a beautiful thing.

11:28And, you know, all the well wishes in the world to the baby, to mom, to the whole family.

11:32Hope everybody's happy, healthy, you know, and good to go.

11:35For now, though, that's all the time we have for this episode.

11:37Check back with us next episode.

11:38Run down the latest wrestling news and rumors.

11:40Special thanks, as always, goes to Suno for creating music and sound effects we use on our show.

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12:00You've been playing the same board games your whole life.

12:02Get off the monopoly arguments with the family,

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12:21If you're looking for your next career decision, you're considering college, university life,

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12:26go to my website at frolifeplanning.com for all your higher education needs

12:30as FroLife Educational Planning is for today, for tomorrow, and for life with FroLife.

12:35I'm Fred Froelich, better known as Dr. Fro.

12:37I want to thank you for taking some time with us today.

12:39Until next time, take care, buddy.

12:40Have a great night.

12:50I want to thank you for joining us today.

13:34We'll see you next time.

Dragon Lee Contract Update - AEW Full Gear Main Event - Ilja Dragunov Discusses WWE Offer

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