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#1 WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov for the NXT UK Championship (NXT TakeOver 36)
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The most recent WALTER match in NXT may be his greatest. The big-time rematch between WALTER and Ilja Dragunov was ten months in the making following their epic encounter last year. Dragunov went through a crisis of confidence that led to metamorphosis to find a new edge in himself and overcome the mental beating he took following his dramatic loss.
Ilja Dragunov eventually went back up the ladder and defeated Joe Coffey and Rampage Brown to become the Number One Contender. It looked like he would get his long-awaited title shot in July, but WALTER's hand injury delayed it and eventually postponed it until a bigger stage at NXT TakeOver 36.
The buildup was so well done and paced on the NXT UK brand, but Ilja Dragunov's brief stint on the North American side of NXT led to Pete Dunne beating him ahead of the show. Despite the setback, the hype behind this bout was at an all-time high, and boy did they deliver.
WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov II started slowly with a feeling-out process that featured mat wrestling, submission attempts, and a strike exchange. WALTER took control with a powerbomb on the apron. He started laying in vicious chops to the chest and back of Dragunov. WALTER also hit some sick German and sleeper suplexes that couldn't keep the challenger down.
No matter how many brutal blows or sickening moves WALTER threw at Dragunov, he kept fighting. With his chest looking like raw meat, Ilja continued to withstand the assault of the NXT UK Champion. He hit two Torpedo Moscows for only a two count. WALTER hit all his greatest hits, from a big splash to a powerful lariat to the running chop, but Dragunov kept kicking out.
Ilja Dragunov ended the 870-day reign of WALTER in one of the greatest TakeOver matches of all time. Ilja pounced on WALTER with ground and pound strikes. Dragunov then followed with a sleeper that he wouldn't let go of. He finally made WALTER tap to become the NXT UK Champion.
This was a total slugfest with the two men just beating the crap out of each other for well over 22 minutes. It was dramatic, full of hate and beautiful violence. WALTER and Dragunov took what they had in the first encounter and escalated it in front of a hot crowd at NXT TakeOver 36. This has to be considered WALTER's best NXT match of his career so far.
