Top WWE star clears the air about aligning with Gunther and Imperium

Gunther and his group Imperium remain one of the formidable stables in WWE since the trio arrived at Monday Night RAW following the annual Draft. Recently, former NXT United Kingdom Champion Ilja Dragunov cleared the air about joining the stable in the near future.

Earlier this year, a report suggested that Ilja Dragunov will soon be making his main roster debut for WWE and possibly align with Gunther and Imperium. However, the Mad Russian is currently quite busy on the developmental brand, and it might take a while for him to appear on RAW or SmackDown.

Meanwhile, Gunther is set to face the biggest challenge of his career as the Intercontinental Champion when he goes one-on-one with Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam. Speaking exclusively to Cultaholic, Dragunov cleared the air about joining Imperium. Check it out:

"I mean, who would actually want that? There is no more people with more differences than me towards Imperium. Imperium is stoic and cold. Brilliant at what they do, but I'm the opposite. I'm the emotionally-loaded, intense mat dragon who can barely control himself as soon as he enters the ring. The difference is like day and night. For me personally, I see no reason why that would happen. I don't even understand the question about this. I read that, of course, but literally it doesn't fit at all." [H/T - Cultaholic]

Gunther and Dragunov have been rivals for a while, and it makes sense for the two stars not to be on the same page.

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Gunther's former rival will compete at WWE Great American Bash 2023

Last year, Ilja Dragunov made his way to the developmental brand in the United States after he recovered from an injury. Before going on a hiatus, he relinquished the WWE United Kingdom Championship.

After failing to win the NXT Championship from Bron Breakker, Dragunov spent time feuding with JD McDonagh. Later, he defeated McDonagh, and the Irish Ace went to WWE's main roster.

Recently, he defeated Bron Breakker in a one-on-one bout and became the new number-one contender for Carmelo Hayes' NXT Championship. Last week, he teamed up with Hayes and Trick Williams to face The Schism.

Unfortunately, the alliance lasted less than a day, as Dragunov ended up hitting both Hayes and Melo by the end of the show. It will be interesting to see if the Mad Russian walks out of the event with the NXT Championship.

Do you want to see Ilja Dragunov with Gunther and Imperium? Sound off in the comment section below.