Mishal takes a look at the highly praised fight between WALTER and Ilja Dragunov from NXT UK that has everyone talking!

I’ve said it before, roughly 800 times, and I’ll say it again, wrestling in 2020 has been a jarring experience to behold.

Professional wrestling has always over the course of its history been a sport that uses the art of violence within the infamous ”squared circle” to convey story & characters to a live audience sitting at ringside seeing these modern-day gladiators go to war over a championship, personal stake or simply for the sake of ferocious competition. But in 2020, its most vital element was plucked from right underneath it due to a global health pandemic, that being the very fans that spend their hard-earned money to see the best wrestling on the planet whenever it may come into town.

And as a result, a lot has changed within the landscape of the business.

Storylines were sent into flux, wrestlers (such as Roman Reigns) miraculously disappeared from television due to real-life health concerns, venues shut down prompting the biggest annual wrestling show in WrestleMania to be held behind closed doors with no in-person attendance, wrestlers were forced to act under a very different dynamic to tell their stories & what could have been a banner year for professional wrestling simply became iconic for a variety of different reasons. This wasn’t the same landscape we were either used to or promised as the year begun, shifting plans for big matches, returns, as well as numerous other events which essentially sent much of the year’s events into standstill.

In the midst of all this mess, was one particularly highly anticipated match which was lurking below the surface of the return of Edge, The Undertakers ”Final” match, Randy Orton’s rise back to the top, Roman Reigns return or even companies like AEW stealing the show every week on television, that was the highly anticipated clash between NXT’s UK Champion WALTER & Ilja Dragunov.

Neither WALTER nor Dragunov were strangers to each other prior to this established match, in fact the history between the two was far deeper than WWE or NXT fans were aware of. Because WWE tend to only briefly reference their talents past, the emphasis NXT chose to take with their past history was a neat little element that added a lot in retrospect, especially if you’re familiar with it.

The two have engaged in battles across Europe over the years, with their history starting in wXw (Westside Extreme Wrestling) in Germany with various encounters, spilling over into PROGRESS wrestling in the United Kingdom in a match that would become a standard bearer & finally, arriving on their largest stage in NXT almost half a decade after it had begun to rekindle what they started. To those interested in looking into their history of this incredible feud, Ian Hamiltion over at 411mania has a neat little recap piece that should fill you in on what these two have been through since the beginning.

Originally slated to be held earlier in the year, likely at a TakeOver special most likely, the two faced a setback once COVID-19 set in government travel restrictions, production issues as NXT UK came to a grinding halt with the UK not allowing sports to function as normal & any storylines on the show put on hold for the time being until the situation was resolved. Upon the brands return, all eyes were set on the two former rivals to clash on the biggest stage with all eyes on them, as the world anticipated what degree of pain the two could inflict on each other. Both are known for their leans on ”Strong Style” wrestling, as their chops, kicks & punches could practically be felt through their television screen, which made this content all the more compelling.

As for the match, it was only aided with 7 months of anticipation building behind it due to cancellations which made this feel like something fans simply had to behold, and they weren’t wrong, in fact what they got was something truly special. Unlike anything seen under the WWE banner.

The Match

Despite the criticism that the pandemic era of professional wrestling has received since it began, this is one of those few times that if anything the strange atmosphere it created actually benefited the story we were being presented. That deafening silence of an empty arena takes away from the aura of most big matches, yet it only seemed to make this one stand out more.

With a lack of fans, reaction or distractions in the background whether sound or otherwise, everything we felt was conveyed in the ring & it felt like it hurt to see it almost as much as it must have heard to take on both men’s parts. The lack of atmosphere, the pitch silence at times (bar the commentary team) created an atmosphere of pitch-perfect tension, capturing the animosity of both WALTER & Ilja Dragnunov perfectly as they contested something that was less of a match, and more of a fight. Nothing about this was meant to be pretty or stylish, this was simply about two men wanting to kick the ever-living hell out of one another, which they accomplished in spades.

You could hear every blow manifest from both WALTER’s legendary chops to Ilja’s brutal uppercuts, you could see the welts build up on both men’s bodies as the contest stretched on & you could tell whether fake or not that the punishment these two were enduring wasn’t simply there for the sake of storytelling, the pain could be seen & heard quite openly. This kind of atmosphere wouldn’t likely exist with some kind of live audience present, at least not to the extent that it did here. Sure, an audience’s reaction would have been fascinating to see, but in all honesty the facial expressions & emotions of display of both WALTER & Ilja was mesmerizing storytelling. The two wisely played off the advantages of no audience being present, resorting to dialogue in their native tongue, emotion on all levels & displaying sheer agony to fill the void of any missing elements that may have been provided by an audience.

As for the in-ring action, to those familiar with the dynamic between the two competitors it was the brilliance you’ve seen before, but to any newcomers, you were in for a treat. In terms of pacing, the contest never wavered, even at its slower points. From the get-go this was an all-out fight, skipping over the prototypical rest holds, lock ups, taunting or shenanigans so many contests are marred with in most circumstances, which made this all the better as a result. While the standard WWE formula did play its role in terms of second winds this did a good job of straying away from that formula just enough to keep things fresh, which you can highly tribute to the creative offense on display as well as two genuinely unique personas clashing head on. A constant reliance on strikes, torturous chops, brutal kicks, unforgiving slams & a clothesline so vicious my jaw dropped to the floor made this a spectacle in violence, just not the kind you’d expect. Even something as similar as a headlock featured a spontaneous, monstrous slap from WALTER to the chest, never letting go of the narrative surrounding the imposing force that he is while never straying away from the physicality.

WALTER vs Ilja Dragunov is arguably the most outright violent match I’ve ever seen in my life as a professional wrestling fan, but not for the reasons you’d imagine.

Where this match shines are in its ability to convey violence through its storytelling & not rely on what’s made matches like the hardcore matches from ECW, Deathmatches in Japan/Mexico or the utter insanity of contests during the Attitude Era special (such as profuse amounts of blood), this used the very central characteristics of the characters as that violence. Each strike wasn’t simply a strike, it was a test on both men’s parts to test the limitations they’d built up over the course of this feud, a test of the will of the characters, not just a further addition to the already violent action but rather an example of how much the NXT UK Title represented to them. Presenting violence in this way doesn’t just make it impactful, it makes it personal, it garners stakes, which is why this match sucked me in the manner it did. Every moment built on the last, every strike meant something & the punishment both men went through was a testament to their dedication to tell the most effective story possible.

At the end, it was Dragunov that fell to the seemingly unstoppable NXT UK Champion after almost 30 minutes of carnage. However, the match didn’t indicate this being the final chapter in a feud with far more longevity, it kept the door open to what would hopefully be a second, even a series of encounters between WALTER & Dragunov. Ilja never directly submitted nor was he ever pinned like any other opponent before him, he was simply put to sleep at the call of a referee, giving the man a viable reason to contest a rematch with the reigning champion down the line or in the near future depending on where NXT UK heads in the next number of months.

I say this as a genuine fan & admirer of this match, this isn’t the last time these two men will meet in an NXT ring because there is so much more for them to bring to the table. From a booking standpoint, this is one of those rare matches I’d call virtually perfect in execution as it did what it was meant to while only leaving me wanting a rematch instantly.

Conclusion

So, when it comes down to this, where do I stand on this match?

Is it my 2020 Match of the Year? Is it as good as the hype dictated it would be? Is it the best match of either WALTER or Ilja Dragunov’s careers? Was it worth the 7 months wait? Does it set a new standard for the NXT UK brand?

To almost all of the above, yes, without a single doubt in my mind.

The only contention I would have is with this being the best match of WALTER’s NXT run, because there is so much quality to dig through. We could put this up against his epics with Pete Dunne or Tyler Bate, and where you come down on is simply due to your overall taste, but for myself its somewhat of a tie between all 3 as of right now. Each match brings something different to the table depending on your taste, so for now I’ll play the resident coward unwilling to make the hard decision & settle on this question as a tie. Although, time will make this decision for me.

As for everything else, it’s extremely hard not to find something to love in this match, regardless of your tastes. It’s a brilliant example of professional wrestling done to perfection, from the long-term character work put into both men, the brilliantly layered story behind the match, the sheer brutality of both men’s in-ring styles & the creativity in presenting a match like this without a live audience to play off of. It’s all the very best elements of the business on full display, most importantly shining the spotlight on long-term storytelling’s impact on big money matches which WWE sorely lacks. This wasn’t a box office draw, nor was it the kind of match that would outsell the biggest PPV’s, it was just a damn fine presentation all around that everyone should be proud of.

You could refer to this as a wrestling purists wet dream, because that’s exactly what it is.

WALTER vs Ilja Dragunov is a modern-day masterpiece in every way for me & undoubtedly the finest professional wrestling contest put up in 2020 so far, even topping the brilliance that was FTR vs The Young Bucks from AEW Full Gear from just days ago. More than just a match, this felt like a fight, and with some people constantly wanting to see more ‘realism’ out of professional wrestling I feel this could serve to cater to that niche demographic while also enhancing the story beyond just a wrestling match.

It’s the most masterful match I’ve seen in well over a year (since Cody vs Dustin Rhodes) & the most violent match I’ve witnessed that didn’t resort to the use of a stipulation or foreign objects. But most importantly, and the aspect that will define this match forever, is that this was unlike anything mainstream wrestling fans have likely ever seen. From the violence to the fighters literally venting their emotions to each other by talking between blows in passionate war cry’s, WWE has never presented something with an aura quite like WALTER vs Ilja Dragunov.

Regardless of which company you prefer, which style of wrestling you prefer or how aware you are of either of these men, it’s a spectacle you have to see to believe. A masterpiece in every sense of the word.