Absent WWE star not ready to return; could miss WrestleMania 41 (Exclusive)

Not every WWE Superstar has been cleared to compete on The Road to WrestleMania 41. Former NXT Champion Ilja Dragunov is still out of action due to an injury he suffered months ago during a house show.

During a recent edition of Live Q&A on Backstage Pass, WrestleVotes provided an update on Ilja Dragunov's status for WrestleMania 41, noting The Czar was last seen at the WWE Performance Center two weeks ago.

"The last I heard was he was at the PC about two weeks ago, I wanna say; don't know if he was in the ring, could have been there for just medical reasons. But, he was spotted. Plenty of people are friends with him. So, you know, I don't think he was hiding, but I don't know if he's ready to return for in-ring action yet. But yeah, him and Gunther makes a lot of sense when he's healthy." [From 13:04 onwards]

Veteran journalist Bill Apter chimed in by saying Ilja Dragunov may show up at WrestleMania 41 to cost Gunther his World Heavyweight Championship against Jey Uso.

"Well, who knows? If he and Gunther are going to be a program. (...) Maybe, he'll cost Gunther the title by distracting him (against) Jey Uso. You have built-in feud there." [From 13:30 onwards]

Ilja Dragunov and Gunther last squared off on WWE television at NXT TakeOver: 36 when The Mad Dragon beat The Ring General for the NXT UK Championship. It remains to be seen if these two major rivals will collide on a main roster show anytime soon.

---

Please credit Sportskeeda and embed the YouTube video if you use any quotes from this article.