Ilja Dragunov On The Value Of Adversity, Calls Pain His ‘Friend’

During a recent appearance on the “Out of Character” podcast, Ilja Dragunov discussed his struggles in life and how pain motivates him to push harder.

You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:

On the value of adversity: “If there is no struggle, there is no meaning. If I can push through those times and just [take] one step after another, and to never give up, it’s gonna be worth it.”

On his relationship with pain: “I think I am pain, because I’m the person overcoming it every single time. Pain is my friend. When I talked about the most horrible years in my life, just physical-wise, I still don’t want to change a thing. I know there will be other years where it’s going to be horrible and exhausting and mentally painful, too. But if I can take all this pain and put it into the ring, like putting color on a canvas and painting my own picture, creating my own art, … then I do something in a way that nobody else can ever do this.”

Dragunov defeated Trick Williams in singles action this past week on WWE NXT Heatwave.

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