During a Q&A session, JoeyVotes and TC of WrestleVotes addressed Dragunov’s lengthy disappearance. JoeyVotes admitted there hasn’t exactly been much noise surrounding a comeback.>“I haven’t heard his name in weeks.”>“Analytics, man. They rely on analytics so much. And if these numbers look bad against you and not in your favor, they won’t use you as much. Some of these guys are feeling the effects of WWE’s new Moneyball approach, where they take numbers, analytics, and reporting. People turn off the TV when this guy’s on. They don’t click on his name. WWE utilizes these more than anyone will ever know. These guys are really hurting because of that.”>“His merch is nothing. He’s had one or two shirts, so there’s no, ‘Man, I really like this guy. I’ll buy his T-shirt.’ He’s not a priority. We can say that.”
>>21021029Why can't we get an angle out of the fact that he's a ruski, is modern wrestling that gay?
>>21021047He actually denounced Russia & Putin in 2022 and is forbidden to enter the country.
>>21021029surely t-shirt sales isn't the end-all, be-all to what makes a wrestler good/over??Also what if they're over but the t-shirt designs are just complete shit? I like LA Knight but I'd never buy his merch because it all looks shitHis matches were really good, must be something else
>>21021029>Analytics, man. They rely on analytics so much.that was what mike graham did for wcw. he would look at the quarters and see how everybody tuned out as soon as a vanilla midget appeared on tv
>>21021077Didn't this guy kill himself because he couldn't draw flies to shit?
>>21021029maybe try putting him in a good storyline first?
He's never going to be a top guy. Best he can hope for is a reliable hand role, to just do good shit in the midcard and tag scenes.
>they turn off the tv when he’s on but lets put Jade michin bfab the coconuts that aren’t the bloodline and solo on tv constantly. Hell let’s push Raquel and Nia
>>21021086>>21021099Sorry no one cares about your vanilla midget
Face reality, he's too small to be believable how they tried to present him. Brock making him look like a midget was the final straw for him.
>>21021107wow, you seethe easily huh
>>21021107Still mad about that danhausen match huh domfag
>>21021128You're mad because the fag blew up his own career.He cheated on his wife, got that shitty tattoo and then based Brock shit all over him3 strikes and you're out
the only thing that matters is the push, the wrestler means nothing. give someone a push for long enough and people will get behind them
>>21021029>JoeyVotes and TC of WrestleVotesFucking WHOMST? I think Ijla is a shitter and have no love lost for this midget. He could get released tomorrow for all I care. But what the fuck are these sources and how would they know shit and why is anyone believing them?Could I really just start a dirtsheet tomorrow and have it posted by you retards?
>>21021099B-Fab is 100% fucking some higher up.
>>21021047they blew their russian angle with rusev and lana
>>21021370Same thing with Baron Corbin until Vince was gone, makes you wonder
>>21021029Who is JoeyVotes and is he known to actually have relevant sources or is it some bullshitter who at most talks Brutus Creed or some other jobber?
>>21021423wrestlevotes is, shockingly, reputable, given their dumbass watchmojo tier name
>>21021029There is probably more to this than low audience interest in him, since they occasionally give screentime to such wrestlers on Main Event atleast.
>>21021107#1 BFab fan right here
>>21021029These pricks can't build a supporting cast to save their lives. In their mind every wrestler has to be the number 1 seller or they are out.
>>21021029never liked this try hard tough guy faggot
>>21021082I guess you could say that makes him an expert on the dime drawing subject.
>>21021029>wrestlevotesWho the fuckAlso yeah I'm sure baron corbin is selling mountains of merch that's why they brought him back and gave him a title
>>21021541You niggas are the only ones paying attention to Main event. I swear AEW fans pay attention to house shows and Main Event shows more than actual WWE fans do
>>21022184I am not an AEW fan. I am just mentioning that othet anti-draws like Ivy Nile or the Creeds get used on Main Event.
>>21021029His fault for not shooting on Brock KWAB
>>21021198>just push the charia vacuum midget to the moon for a decade and people with eventually come around on itYou're actively trying to kill the biz
>>21021086No one watches WWE for storylines. They watch it for mathematically optimised draws. No one remembers stone cold and booker t fighting in a supermarket or bingo hall. Caring about how to get a draw isn't important only the numbers going up. Once the numbers stop going up you look at cuts and trying to do business deals to sell off the ip.
>>21021086Maybe you should play more Ilja Dragunov in WWE 2k26™ so the computer knows you like him.
>>21021029He shouldn't have neck tatted himself
>>21021029It was all over for Ilja when Brock no sold those chops
>>21021082no you are thinking of chris benoit
>>21021047He's too small to play the part of a Russian villain. I knew this guy was anti-dimes the minute I saw him after the iwc had been hyping him like he's the second coming of Benoit or something like that. He's nowhere near that impressive.
>>21023679this is completely falsejust put him in a general's uniform and have him command 2 big white guys with russian gimmicksthey dont even need to be russian they only have to live the gimmick and put on a fake accent
>>21021029>my gimmick is that I'm a super tough crazy man who grits his teeth through the pain and no sells and does a lot of crazy shit>actually is 5'7It only kind of works for Darby because he plays the role of the bumpmonkey, it doesn't work for a little faggot that wants to larp as a hoss being a third the size of one.
>>21021029i feel like this can't be true. they've repeatedly tried with some wrestlers that never get any reaction or do numbers. they do this a lot with the women specifically.
>>21021099All mainstream culture is downstream of black culture, anon. You should know this by now.
>>21021389>Baron Corbinthis guy gets no reaction every time he wrestles
>>21023690Well when you put it this way then sure he could work that way. But sure as hell not how they have been pushing him. His actual height and weight is probably more like 5'6 and 170 lbs yet we are supposed to believe he could go toe to toe with prime Kane or some shit like that.
>>21021047Yes. You had people bleating on xitter and plebbit about how evil the fed is for putting over a Russian wrestler. They literally cannot root for a fictional character from a country that the media has told them is evil because their brains are simply incapable of breaking their lifelong conditioning.
>>21023701He probably has visa issues. It's pretty common with Trump's changes but these retards can't seem to grasp it.
>>21023733This won’t work. You can’t have heels do heel things anymore. Even fictional bad guys cannot be problematic or else the terminally online sweathogs start squealing and tko will make Paul shut it down. I don’t even think repackaging his gimmick after an extended absence will work for him.
>>21021055How is that not part of his character?
>>21024004it could be visa issues but i also feel like that would have leaked by now if it was true. if only to get smarks on twitter to lay off them a bit for not using him.
>>21021370It's Michael Hayes. He's got a thing for long skinny druggy chicks
Ilja sucks
>>21021029This doesn't make any sense. This guy always got a pop in NXT and he's good on the mic. I think it's just Triple Nose fumblefucking as he normally does.
>>21024042Nah it seems like they don't really bother mentioning most of the time. People were wondering where the fuck was Shida and it turns out it was just visa issues, so she stayed in Japan and got fat playing games.
In another era he's on Tren and working 20 minutes with Benoit
>>21021099>the coconuts that aren’t the bloodlineThey literally released a bunch of them when they were revealed to be ratings poison
>>21021047He grew up in Germany, is a German citizen, and comes off more like a German than a Russian, he wouldn't be very convincing doing Russiabait heel work
>>21021029I thought the fed didn't bench people
