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Ilja Dragunov is officially back—and heâ€s got gold around his waist to prove it.
WWE released new backstage footage on October 19, 2025, showing Dragunov after what appears to be his United States Championship win. The former NXT Champion returned to television on the October 17 episode of SmackDown from the SAP Center in San Jose, where he stepped up to accept Sami Zaynâ€s open challenge. The crowd gave him a huge welcome after nearly a year off WWE TV.
In the new video, Dragunov opened up about the emotional weight of the past year and the message heâ€s sending to the entire roster now that heâ€s champion.
“Itâ€s been such a long year, and nobody understands how I feel sitting on the sidelines for a year, waiting and hoping and training to come back better. Better than anybody else. More ruthless, more ambitious. Fearless. More courage. All these things and everything that I accomplished over this year, this, itâ€s a symbol of it, me as the United States Champion,†Dragunov said while clutching the title.
He didnâ€t hold back when addressing future challengers either.
“So one thing is so clear to me right now. I get a very, very clear message to everyone who is coming for this. My dear friends and my dear enemies, if you step with me into the ring, pain shall entertain it.â€
Dragunovâ€s return wasnâ€t always meant to go down this way. According to previous reports, his WWE comeback was originally targeted for September and slated for the RAW brand. But plans changed, and insiders said SmackDown needed a “shakeup,†prompting WWE to move Dragunov to Friday nights instead.
Before his time away, Dragunov had close calls in major matchups, including a four-way number one contenderâ€s bout against Jey Uso and a World Heavyweight Title live event clash with Gunther. Now on SmackDown with the U.S. Title, heâ€s been handed a clean slate—and he clearly has no plans to waste it.
Ilja Dragunov made it clear he returned with more than just a comeback in mind—he came back to dominate.
Do you think Dragunovâ€s run as United States Champion will elevate SmackDownâ€s mid-card scene? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and let us know what you think.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
October 19, 2025 12:08 pm
Ilja Dragunovâ€s return to WWE SmackDown ended with him defeating Sami Zayn to capture the United States Championship—but the story behind the decision just took a surprising turn. While one report claimed Zayn personally pushed for Dragunov to beat him, Baron Corbin has now stepped in to call that rumor false.
According to Bodyslam, Zayn wanted Dragunov to take the title off him, hoping it would elevate both the belt and Dragunovâ€s momentum. The report claimed Zayn saw it as a way to make the U.S. Championship feel important again while giving Dragunov a huge comeback moment.
But Baron Corbin didnâ€t waste time shutting down the idea. Responding on Twitter, the former WWE Superstar dismissed the claim in blunt fashion, simply writing that it was “BS.â€
So far, Zayn have addressed Corbinâ€s denial, leaving fans to wonder where the truth lies. Zayn has long been known for helping talent shine, so it wouldnâ€t be out of character for him to support Dragunovâ€s win. Still, with Corbin rejecting the story outright, the situation remains unclear until someone directly involved speaks up.
Do you think Sami Zayn really pushed for Dragunov to win the U.S. Title, or is this just another case of false reporting in wrestling news? Share your thoughts in the comments.
It’s been several weeks since the Americans’ gut-wrenching 15-13 loss to the Europeans at the 2025 Ryder Cup, but conversations about what the U.S. team can do better in 2027 and beyond continue.
On this week’s episode of Subpar, sports-world mainstay Trey Wingo offered a number of takes, highlighted by a particularly bold idea that he believes can help the U.S. team in future Ryder Cups.
“It matters more to them,” Wingo said of the Europeans. “It just does. The first thing I would do is something that Colt and I have talked about on my show: I’d get rid of the Presidents Cup. That’s the first thing I would do.
Team USA’s Ryder Cup dilemma? Justin Rose thinks they have it all wrong
By:
Josh Schrock
“Like, it’s not competitive. It’s just a money-maker for the PGA Tour, and we care, kind of, because we like to win. The Europeans get two years to to get into a lather about this, and we go through this banal, meaningless exhibition. And I’m happy for the Mike Weirs of the world and all the Australian players and the Koreans and the Canadians that get a chance to have this format. That’s wonderful. It’s not the Ryder Cup, OK? It’s not close, it’s not the same thing.”
Wingo suggested implementing a U.S. event that is geared toward additional investment in the Ryder Cup, similar to the Seve Trophy, a Ryder Cup-style match-play team event that was played in Europe in non-Ryder Cup years.
“Basically, a program to get people to care about the Ryder Cup, to get it to be ingrained in their system,” Wingo said.
More reps in team match-play formats would also benefit the Americans, Wingo added.
“The other thing we gotta figure out is how come we don’t play well with each other, right?” he said. “We’re decent in four-ball, we’re OK in singles. We’re not as dominant as we used to be in singles. We gotta figure out a way to play better together. We’ve got to find a way to create cohesive teams that work together better in alternate shot, because that’s killing us.”
For more from Wingo, including the story of the golf slip that almost ruined his career, check out the full episode of Subpar below.
Brandon Holtz played his first-ever USGA championship at the Mid-Am in September, but it won’t be his last. The 38-year-old from Indiana won the tournament at Scottsdale’s Troon Country Club with a 3-and-2 victory over his final-match opponent, 28-year-old Jeg Coughlin III. With the win, Holtz will get an exemption into next year’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills and (likely) an envy-inducing invitation to the Masters in April. The Masters has traditionally extended an invitation to every U.S. Mid-Amateur champion since 1989.
For Holtz, a 38-year-old realtor and former college basketball player at Illinois State, the opportunity to compete on Augusta National’s hallowed grounds is a dream come true. Holtz played pro golf on the mini tour circuit for six years before being reinstated as an amateur in 2024.
“I kept my pro card for a while just because I liked to play for cash, and it got to the point where I just wasn’t playing any events anymore, so decided to get my amateur status back last year,” Holtz told the USGA.
On this week’s episode of Subpar, Holtz expressed his excitement about having the chance to tee it up at Augusta with his father on the bag after the two have spent the last two decades attending the Masters as patrons.
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“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, right?” Holtz told Subpar hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. “Hopefully not, but, you know, let’s be a little bit more realistic. Yeah, he’s on the bag. I think the plan is, my brother might be on the bag for the U.S. Open and then hopefully get that invite to the Masters and my dad is definitely on the bag.
“My dad won two [Masters] tournament badges for life in 2004,” Holtz continued. “He won the lottery back when they opened it up to everything, so we’ve been going down there for 20 years. It makes it a little more special just because we understand how special it is. So just, you know, walking the grounds and say, oh, what’s behind that rope, what’s in that building? We’re gonna find out this year.”
Which hole is Holtz most looking forward to playing? A hint — it’s not the ones you’d expect.
“The ones I like to watch are No. 2 and No. 6,” he said. “No. 2, for the bigger hitters having that opportunity to hit it on No. 2 green and just because the green’s crazy, but you can also kind of see how downhill that actual hole is. A lot of people don’t realize how undulated and how hilly that place actually is. But I really wanna, [on] No. 14, [see] how crazy that green is. I just wanna go take a bucket of balls and hit chips as many times as I can around that thing because it’s, I’ll tell you what, from the bottom to the top, I think it’s about eight feet.
SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)…
WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT
OCTOBER 10, 2025
PERTH, AUSTRALIA AT RAC ARENA
AIRED LIVE ON USA NETWORK
REPORT BY WADE KELLER, PWTORCH EDITOR
Commentators: Michael Cole, Booker T
Ring Announcer: Mark Nash
JOIN US LIVE ON YOUTUBE TONIGHT FOR THE VIDEO-FORMAT OF OUR LIVE POST-SHOWS…
PWTorch editor Wade Keller will be joined by PWTorchâ€s Javier Machado to review WWE Smackdown LIVE on YouTube. Weâ€ll be incorporating live viewer comments into the show so join us LIVE!
Email our post-show at wadekellerpodcast@gmail.com with your comments and questions about S,Tmackdown. Weâ€ll read your emails live during the post-show.
If you canâ€t join us live on YouTube, stream the show on demand later at YouTube or listen or stream later on a podcast app. Subscribe to all of our free podcasts by searching “wade keller†and “pwtorch†in your podcast app of choice including Spotify and Apple Podcasts and most other iOS and Android apps.
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Click that link during the post-show to enter the waiting room as “live video caller†(or just audio if you turn off your cam, which is fine).
OPEN TO EVERYONE – LINK TO WATCH LIVE RIGHT AFTER WWE SMACKDOWN TONIGHT: CLICK HERE
[HOUR ONE]
-They opened with a video showing a “hand off” the (meaningless, barely ever mentioned) Crown Jewel Title belts from Saudio Arabia to Australia 7,065 miles.
(Keller’s Analysis: This had the vibe of a bad WWE Films-produced action-adventure or thrilled movie. I mean, it’d be cool if this was done for a meaningful title belt the fans had a reason to care about and was part of the narrative year round.)
-They cut to the arena where Cole touted all the bedazzling of the Crown Jewel Title belts which was shown at ringside.
-Cody Rhodes made his ring entrance wearing a blue suit with a red tie. He carried his WWE Title belt to the ring with him.
Advertised Matches & Appearances
- The Wyatt Sicks vs. The Street Profits – WWE Tag Team Championship match
- Tiffany Stratton & Stephanie Vaquer vs. Giulia & Kiana James
- Damian Priest vs. Aleister Black – Last Man Standing match
- Sami Zayn to issue a United States Title Open Challenge
- Cody Rhodes to speak
Ina Kim-Schaad won the 2025 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship for the second time on Thursday, draining an 18-foot putt on the fifth extra hole at Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Dunes Course to claim a dramatic victory over her opponent, Hanley Long. The 23-hole final match was the longest in U.S. Women’s Mid-Am history.
At 42 years old, Kim-Schaad is a USGA event veteran, with this year marking her 20th USGA championship appearance. With the win, she became the fourth-oldest champion ever at the U.S. Women’s Mid-Am, and the first woman to win the Mid-Am twice since Julia Potter-Bobb in 2016. Kim-Schaad won her first Mid-Am title in 2019 at Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff, Ariz.
“I’m still overwhelmed with emotion, honestly,” Kim-Schaad said Thursday. “I truly love this place, and my husband and I got married in Carmel. To do it at such a special place, golf course, with my family here and my husband on the bag, his birthday day week, and for a second time, it’s like there’s not even enough language to put around just all the feels that I’m feeling.”
Labor and delivery OB/GYN PA among notable competitors at U.S. Women’s Mid-Am
By:
Jessica Marksbury
Kim-Schaad fired stroke-play rounds of 72-79 (seven over) to take the 45th seed in the match-play Round of 64. She won her first match 1 up; her Round of 32 match 2 and 1, her Round of 16 match 3 and 2, her quarterfinal match 3 and 1, and her semi-final match 2 and 1, where she took out No. 1 seed Katherine Zhu.
In the final match against Long, 27, Kim-Schaad won the first hole and never trailed, but Long managed to tie the match four different times — including on the 17th hole. Kim-Schaad ultimately prevailed with a dramatic birdie on the fifth extra hole.
“Downhill left-to-right ticklers are not my specialty, but I just wanted to give it a chance,” Kim-Schaad said. “I thought if I nestled it up there and two-putted, [Long] was going to have a really difficult par anyway. My genuine intention was nestle it up there and give it a chance, and it just happened to drop.”
“It was an absolute battle out there the entire day,” Long said. “Hats off to our champion. She absolutely crushed it today. Honestly, I’m just so proud of my grit and determination throughout the entire day, keeping my head up and held high and never giving up.”
With the win, Kim-Schaad will receive an exemption into the next 10 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championships, the 2026 and 2027 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championships and the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open Championship at Riviera Country Club.
The 2026 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship will be played at Montclair Golf Club in West Orange, N.J., Sept. 29-Oct. 3.
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Ina Kim-Schaad outlasted Hanley Long in the longest championship match in U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur history Thursday, winning with an 18-foot birdie putt on the fifth extra hole on Monterey Peninsula Country Club’s Dunes Course.
Kim-Schaad, a 42-year-old from Jupiter, Florida, also won in 2019. She is the fourth-oldest winner in event history and the first two-time winner since Julia Potter-Bobb in 2016. The tournament is open to players 25 and older with a Handicap Index that doesn’t exceed 9.4.
“I’m overwhelmed with emotion, honestly,” Kim-Schaad said. “I truly love this place, and my husband and I got married in Carmel. To do it at such a special place, golf course, with my family here and my husband on the bag, his birthday day week, and for a second time, it’s like there’s not even enough language to put around just all the feels that I’m feeling.”
Long, a 28-year-old from Clarksville, Tennessee, squared it with a par on the par-4 17th when Kim-Schaad’s approach flew the green and she had to play her third shot from a cart path. Both players bogeyed the par-4 18th to send it extra holes. They parred the first four playoff holes, with Long holing an 18-footer on the second extra hole.
“It was an absolute battle out there the entire day,” Long said. “Honestly, I’m just so proud of my grit and determination throughout the entire day, keeping my head up and held high and never giving up.”
Both finalists earned spots in the 2026 U.S. Women’s Open at Riviera Country Club and the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur, with Kim-Schaad also getting into the 2027 U.S. Women’s Amateur.
The previous longest match in tournament history was 22 holes in 1989 in Robin Weiss’ victory over Page Marsh Lea.
2026 World Baseball Classic games to be broadcast in U.S. on FOX Sports
\n\n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:” 2026 World Baseball Classic will again be televised and streamed in the United States by FOX Sports; it was announced today by World Baseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI). WBCI is an organization that is owned by Major League Baseball and jointly operates the tournament with the Major League Baseball Players Association.\n\nFOX is set to air seven games, including three Pool B games featuring the United States team, two Quarterfinals games and the World Baseball Classic Championship Game on Tuesday, March 17 from Miamiâ€s loanDepot Park.\n\nThe remaining matchups will air across FS1, FS2, the FOX Sports app, FOX One and Tubi – full schedule and designations to be announced at a later date. In addition, FOX Deportes will carry 28 tournament games in Spanish including all four Quarterfinals games, two Semifinals contests, and the Championship Game.”,”type”:”text”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”* **2026 World Baseball Classic:** Buy tickets | Venues | Full coverage”,”type”:”text”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”FOX Sports aired its first World Baseball Classic in 2023 with the Championship Game between USA and Japan averaging 5.2 million viewers in the United States. The game peaked at 6.5 million viewers when the game was decided in the bottom of the ninth with Major League Baseball superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, Angels teammates at the time, squaring off in one of the more memorable at bats in recent baseball history.\n\n“The World Baseball Classic gives the best players around the world an opportunity to represent their countries on a global stage and embodies everything we love about the game – passion, pride, and elite talent – like nothing else†said FOX Sports Executive Vice President, Head of Programming and Scheduling Bill Wanger. “Following the tournamentâ€s wide-spread excitement and unforgettable finish from 2023, weâ€re honored to once again deliver this premier event to fans across the country.â€\n\nWith FOX broadcasting Major League Baseball games since 1996, the World Baseball Classic will precede the networkâ€s 30th season of MLB coverage. The announcement was made live on-air during FOXâ€s American League Division Series pregame coverage with former World Baseball Classic participants Derek Jeter, David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez. The announcement can be seen here.\n\n“FOX Sports has been a great partner to MLB for decades showcasing the skill of the players, storylines on and off the field, and intensity of the competition, which will all be on full display during the World Baseball Classic,†said Noah Garden, MLB Deputy Commissioner, Business and Media. “While itâ€s known as Americaâ€s favorite pastime, baseball also is a global game with talented players coming from around the world. In again bringing the World Baseball Classic to baseball fans in the U.S., FOX Sports will help increase the eventâ€s profile and capture the incredible result of when baseball competition meets national pride.â€\n\n“Since the World Baseball Classic’s inception in 2006, Players have experienced a special sense of pride in representing their countries on the international stage,â€â€ said MLB Players, Inc. President Evan Kaplan. “We are proud to partner with FOX Sports to amplify the incredible talent and commitment of our Players, whose passion to the game helps expand baseballâ€s popularity and enhance its stature as a truly global sport.â€â€\n\nThe World Baseball Classic features elite teams and players from around the globe and stands as one of the most highly anticipated international sporting events. The 2026 edition promises to deliver world-class competition, with Team Japan aiming to defend its championship title.\n\nThe 2026 World Baseball Classic will be the sixth iteration of the global baseball tournament and will feature 20 teams competing in four first round pools in Tokyo, Japan; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Houston, Texas; and Miami, Florida, with the first game starting in Tokyo on Wednesday, March 4, 2026 in U.S. time zones, Thursday, March 5, 2026 in Japanâ€s time zone.\n\nThe World Baseball Classic is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) as the sportâ€s official National Team World Championship.”,”type”:”text”}],”relativeSiteUrl”:”/news/fox-sports-to-air-world-baseball-classic-2026″,”contentType”:”news”,”subHeadline”:”47 Tournament Games Set to Air and Stream Across FOX, FS1, FS2, the FOX Sports App, FOX One and Tubi; FOX Deportes to Televise 28 Games in Spanish”,”summary”:”The 2026 World Baseball Classic will again be televised and streamed in the United States by FOX Sports; it was announced today by World Baseball Classic, Inc. (WBCI). 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47 Tournament Games Set to Air and Stream Across FOX, FS1, FS2, the FOX Sports App, FOX One and Tubi; FOX Deportes to Televise 28 Games in Spanish
47 minutes ago
The United States hadn’t hoisted the Espirito Santo Trophy at the Women’s World Amateur Team Championship since 2018, and they had to rely on an odd tiebreaker to snap that streak on Saturday in Singapore.
When the dust settled on Sunday at Tanah Merah Country Club, the United States, Spain and the Republic of Korea were all tied atop the leaderboard at 18 under. Despite the tie, there is no sudden-death playoff or special match-play tiebreaker. Instead, at the Women’s World Amateur Team Championships, it’s the thing that doesn’t normally count that proves to be the difference.
When the 72-hole scores are even, the tiebreaker is the lowest non-counting score.
In this case, that card belonged to Stanford star Megha Ganne, who shot an even-par 72 in the third round. It was a tiebreaker that Team USA was prepared to lean on, if needed, when the week began.
“We are beyond happy. We don’t get to do this often, to play for country, so we were just excited to be here,” Ganne, who won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in August, said. “We were so impressed at the level of golf from Korea and Spain. It’s a heartbreaking tiebreaker for them, but we knew that the third score yesterday and today could matter.”
“We talked about it as a team that potentially it could come down to the third score,” Farah O’Keefe, a Texas junior, said. “And so I think we were all prepared throughout the week that everybody counted and when the final putt dropped, it just so happened, then a third score counted. And so the fact that we were prepared was huge.”
The first tiebreaker is the lowest non-counting score for the final round, but when Catherine Park, a senior at USC, made a birdie on the 18th hole to match Carolina Lopez-Chacarra with a 71, the tiebreaker moved to the lowest non-counting score from the third round, which went to Ganne.
“With my rules official background, I was very conscious of the tie-breaking element,” U.S. captain Kendra Graham, who worked in Rules and Competitions for the USGA, said. “The first phone call I had with each of them, I told them every single player was in it every single day … if it ever comes to a tiebreaker, we are going to that score.”
The Americans trailed Korea by three shots entering the final round but knew the deficit could be erased quickly.
“We all knew that three shots was nothing,” Ganne said. “That’s just that’s one hole if we all birdie it, so, we just tried to play absolutely the best golf we could, every single one of us.”
They did just that.
Ganne led the team with a bogey-free Sunday 68, while O’Keefe and Park both shot 71 to tie the match, with Park’s closing eight-foot birdie tying it up and handing the U.S. the trophy via tiebreaker.
“I’m just so happy,” Park said. “It’s the pressure of making that eight-footer and then knowing that we won was unbelievable. It has been a dream being here with them, winning this trophy.”
In the week since the U.S. team’s crushing Ryder Cup loss to Europe, a number of theories have surfaced in terms of who — or what — is to blame. One recurring theme: the green speeds at Bethpage Black.
In the U.S. team’s post-loss press conference on Sunday, American captain Keegan Bradley admitted he “made a mistake” with his course set-up directives — which included moving up tees and cutting down Bethpage’s famously gnarly rough — which inadvertently played into Europe’s favor.
Another problem? “The greens were as soft as I’ve ever seen greens without it raining,” Bradley said. “Especially here, it can get pretty firm, and they never firmed up. We didn’t want the greens to be like this soft.”
“We needed to make more putts,” said captain’s pick Justin Thomas, who went 2-2-0. “That’s what Keegan needed; he needed us to make more putts.”
While Bradley refused to place the blame on anyone but himself for the Americans’ issues, vice captain Jim Furyk said that U.S. players had doubts that the greens were running at the requested speed of 12.5 on the Stimpmeter.
What Europe’s Ryder Cup team has that U.S. needs more of
By:
Michael Bamberger
“We were told that they were 12 and a half on the stimp,” Furyk said ahead of this week’s Constellation Furyk & Friends tournament on the PGA Tour Champions. “I think that was the request. We were told that they stimped out that in the morning. Our players one by one didn’t think they reached that. I didn’t have a stimp in my hand to actually confirm it, nor was I allowed to hit a putt as a vice captain. That’s a rule. So I can’t tell you because I didn’t get to hit a putt. I wish I would have though.
“Guys had a hard time getting putts to the hole and it did appear to be a little gluey,” Furyk continued. “I think the request was always there to set the golf course up with less rough, but I think also believing that the greens would be firmer. I know we got some rain mid week but they were really, really soft when we arrived. So that probably is an issue a little bit. It’s not how we were looking at the golf course.”
Faster greens should have played to the U.S. team’s advantage.
“I think historically we play faster greens on the PGA Tour than [the Europeans] do [on the DP World Tour],” Bradley said after Saturday’s four-ball session, which the Europeans won 3-1. “Obviously when we go over to their British Open, the greens are considerably slower than what we play on in an average week. I think like British Open, they are around 10, 10 and a half, maybe 11. For us, when we play faster greens, they generally quicken up as the week goes on [and] the weather’s good. That’s normally what happens.”