AJ Styles has shared his disappointment over reports that Ilja Dragunov has left WWE following a seven-year run with the company.

Reports emerged last week claiming Dragunov had allowed his WWE contract to expire, bringing his time with the promotion to an end. The news also appears to have caught Styles by surprise.

Speaking on the latest edition of The AJ Styles Show, the WWE Hall of Famer admitted he had no inside information about what led to Dragunov's reported departure, but made it clear he was disappointed to hear the news.

“I don’t know anything about it. I know that I’m very sad about this situation. I enjoy his work very much. So I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t say much about it because again you’d think I’d know. I work for the company, but my place is in the coaching and the talent and little things to hopefully help make WWE better and build that foundation for them with the younger talent and stuff like that. So, I don’t know what was going on. I just know ‘Holy crap’. That’s about all I know.”

Styles explained that his current role largely revolves around coaching and helping WWE's younger talent rather than being involved in contractual matters behind the scenes.

He also urged fans not to jump to conclusions about Dragunov's situation, pointing out that the former United States Champion will ultimately be the person best placed to explain what happened.

“We’re gonna have to have to wait and see what he says about the situation when he’s able to talk about it. Then we’ll all know the truth because we can speculate everything at what this is. The truth is we don’t know. I’ll be the first one to tell you I thought the guy was awesome.”

Dragunov originally established himself in NXT UK before moving to the main NXT brand following the 2022 merger. His rise continued when he debuted on WWE Raw in 2024 before eventually becoming part of the SmackDown roster.

One of the biggest moments of his main roster run came in October 2025 when Dragunov defeated Sami Zayn to capture the United States Championship. His reign lasted until December, when Carmelo Hayes took the title from him.

With speculation continuing over what comes next, Styles believes fans will have to wait until Dragunov is ready to address the circumstances himself.