@jess_coreThe way Ilja Dragunov frames his WWE Royal Rumble clash with Brock Lesnar isn't about the loss, it's about the recovery. He told Ariel Helwani that for what he was given and how this whole situation occurred, he did the best he could do. His best career moments were made by his vulnerability, becoming a name in moments where he got beaten down. It is always the way he fought back and how he recovered after those moments. He doesn't see it as a defeat. He is glad that people are upset for him, even if maybe it could have worked out a different way. There are two categories of people watching his work: either people who are extremely behind him, really get him, really get emotionally invested in him, or it is the polar opposite, the people who think he is the cringiest person in the world. But he loves it that way because people care. That polarization means the audience actually feels something instead of just scrolling past.

@jess_coreThe way Ilja Dragunov frames his WWE Royal Rumble clash with Brock Lesnar isn't about the loss, it's about the recovery. He told Ariel Helwani that for what he was given and how this whole situation occurred, he did the best he could do. His best career moments were made by his vulnerability, becoming a name in moments where he got beaten down. It is always the way he fought back and how he recovered after those moments. He doesn't see it as a defeat. He is glad that people are upset for him, even if maybe it could have worked out a different way. There are two categories of people watching his work: either people who are extremely behind him, really get him, really get emotionally invested in him, or it is the polar opposite, the people who think he is the cringiest person in the world. But he loves it that way because people care. That polarization means the audience actually feels something instead of just scrolling past.