Ilja Dragunov Faces Cheating Claim as Former WWE Star Fires Back
After a year sidelined by a torn ACL, Ilja Dragunov stormed back onto SmackDown, crashed Sami Zayn’s United States Open Challenge to seize the United States Title, and saw his celebration derailed hours later by a viral teardown of his personal life.
Ilja Dragunov walked back onto SmackDown after more than a year on the shelf and immediately flipped the United States title scene on its head. Then the internet did what it does: turned his big night into a mess.
The comeback that turned into a title win
After tearing his ACL and being out for over a year, Dragunov answered Sami Zayn's United States Open Challenge on this week's SmackDown and beat him to become the new U.S. Champion. Huge return, instant payoff, crowd happy. Simple, right? Not for long.
The rumor mill tried to hijack it
Not long after the show, a user on X claimed Dragunov cheated on his ex-wife with fellow wrestler Lady Leigh and even suggested WWE basically rewarded him with the belt. It was a loud accusation without receipts, and Lady Leigh jumped in herself to shut it down.
"His ex-wife and I are on amicable terms. They have a healthy coparenting relationship. They are divorced. I won't stand for defamation so cut out your factitious assumptions"
- Lady Leigh (@leighlaurel), October 18, 2025
She added a second, firmer warning to the original poster:
"I could let these comments go without needing to prove what kind of people we are, or I can inform you not to mess with the type of people we are. PERIOD."
- Lady Leigh (@leighlaurel), October 18, 2025
For clarity: Leigh says Dragunov and his ex are divorced, they co-parent well, and she herself is on good terms with the ex. Also worth noting: Dragunov has removed past photos with his ex-wife from his social media. The timing here is what set people off — the chatter really spiked after Leigh publicly congratulated him on the title win.
Who is Lady Leigh?
Lady Leigh, also known as Jin Tala, is wrestler Leigh Laurel. She is of Filipino descent and was part of WWE's LFG program before being released recently. After her exit, she posted on Instagram about moving from being a jack of all trades to finding her passion in wrestling, and she got support from names like Nia Jax and Zelina Vega. Release or not, she has been loudly in Dragunov's corner — and clearly protective when his name starts trending for the wrong reasons.
A behind-the-scenes note on why Dragunov was the pick
According to Bodyslam, Triple H did not handpick Dragunov to take the U.S. title. The report says Sami Zayn himself chose Dragunov as the guy to dethrone him. The same report adds that Dragunov was originally slated to return on Raw in September, but the comeback was pushed so he could answer Zayn's open challenge on SmackDown. As always with these reports, grain of salt, but it tracks with how clean the handoff looked on TV.
What this means for the U.S. title picture
Dragunov's first days as champ might get crowded fast. Tama Tonga is back, and the expectation is that Solo Sikoa will circle the title sooner than later. Also, recent U.S. title reigns have been short for names like Sami Zayn, Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, LA Knight, and Shinsuke Nakamura. We will see if Dragunov breaks that streak or becomes another quick chapter.