{"id":239963,"date":"2026-04-23T18:21:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/23\/please-and-thank-you-fans-urge-tony-khan-to-sign-top-wwe-star-after-he-misses-wrestlemania-42\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T18:21:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T18:21:05","slug":"please-and-thank-you-fans-urge-tony-khan-to-sign-top-wwe-star-after-he-misses-wrestlemania-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/23\/please-and-thank-you-fans-urge-tony-khan-to-sign-top-wwe-star-after-he-misses-wrestlemania-42\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPlease and thank you\u201d &#8211; Fans urge Tony Khan to sign top WWE star after he misses WrestleMania 42"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5158081\" data-slug-id=\"2772163\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>A top WWE star missed WrestleMania 42. Therefore, fans want Tony Khan to sign him to AEW.<\/p>\n<p>Ilja Dragunov returned from injury earlier this year and immediately won the United States Championship. He then continued the US Open challenge and defended his title every week in exciting matches. These United States Championship matches were some of the best matches of the year. Due to these open challenges, Dragunov&#8217;s title reign didn&#8217;t last long, and he was eventually defeated by Carmelo Hayes in another exciting match. Despite being one of the best performers on SmackDown, the Mad Dragon didn&#8217;t get to compete at WrestleMania 42.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>Fans have not been happy with his booking and they took to social media to ask Tony Khan to sign <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/ilja-dragunov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Ilja Dragunov<\/a> to AEW. Check out some of the reactions below:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image\"><noscript><\/noscript><img class=\"lazy-img\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data-img=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/b7f56-17769635878876-1920.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/b7f56-17769635878876-1920.jpg?w=190 190w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/b7f56-17769635878876-1920.jpg?w=720 720w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/b7f56-17769635878876-1920.jpg?w=640 640w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/b7f56-17769635878876-1920.jpg?w=1045 1045w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/b7f56-17769635878876-1920.jpg?w=1200 1200w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/b7f56-17769635878876-1920.jpg?w=1460 1460w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/b7f56-17769635878876-1920.jpg?w=1600 1600w, https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/b7f56-17769635878876-1920.jpg 1920w\" alt=\"Screengrab of fans&amp;#039; reactions (Image via X\/@WRFurious)\" data-img-low=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/editor\/2026\/04\/b7f56-17769635878876-1920.jpg?w=640\" bad-src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,&lt;svg%20xmlns=%22http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%201920%201080%22&gt;&lt;\/svg&gt;\"\/><figcaption>Screengrab of fans&#8217; reactions (Image via X\/@WRFurious)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>Jim Ross commented on Tony Khan&#8217;s decision to put the AEW World Championship on Darby Allin<\/h2>\n<p>Darby Allin earned a World Title shot at Dynasty 2026 when he defeated Andrade. Darby cashed in his title shot at Dynamite Spring BreakThru against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/maxwell-jacob-friedman-mjf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">MJF<\/a>. Maxwell wasn&#8217;t aware of the title match until he showed up at the arena that night. In a shocking turn of events, Darby defeated MJF in a glorified squash match to become the new AEW World Champion. Since then, the internet wrestling community has been split over Tony&#8217;s decision to put the World Title on Darby. While some people think it was a great move, others think that Allin isn&#8217;t ready tp be World Champion.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on his <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/JgHJVbozkwA?si=137rJhsCOkX2Fzvk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Grilling JR<\/a> podcast, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/aew\/news-jr-darby\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Jim Ross said that it was a good decision by Tony to put the World Title on Darby Allin.<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;I know Darby really well; he&#8217;s one of the first young kids who came to me when I first went there, to AEW. And I&#8217;ve developed a great relationship with him. Sometimes you just gotta listen to him, and he&#8217;s got to settle down a little bit, not take so damn many chances, &#8217;cause he&#8217;s really talented in every other way. [&#8230;] I think it&#8217;s a good move by Tony Khan, good decision, timely, it made sense to me, and I liked it,&#8221; JR stated.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It remains to be seen if Tony will be able to sign Ilja Dragunov to AEW in the future.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline bottom\" data-tab=\"bottom\">\n<p>Get all the hottest wrestling news FIRST by clicking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=sportskeeda.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\" class=\"bottom_tagline_link\" data-tab=\"bottom\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Sunil Joseph<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/aew\/news-please-thank-you-fans-urge-tony-khan-sign-top-wwe-star-misses-wrestlemania-42\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A top WWE star missed WrestleMania 42. Therefore, fans want Tony Khan to sign him to AEW. Ilja Dragunov returned from injury earlier this year and immediately won the United States Championship. He then continued the US Open challenge and defended his title every week in exciting matches. These United States Championship matches were some [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-239963","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}