DALLAS, TEXAS - OCTOBER 6: during Monday Night RAW at American Airlines Center on October 6, 2025 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by WWE)

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Ilja Dragunov Defeats Carmelo Hayes With The Help of Tommaso Ciampa, Retains The United States Championship on SmackDown

DALLAS, TEXAS - OCTOBER 6: during Monday Night RAW at American Airlines Center on October 6, 2025 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by WWE)

Ilja Dragunov defended his WWE United States Championship against Carmelo Hayes, although the victory was not entirely clean. He received an unexpected assist from Tommaso Ciampa during the match. The help that he knew nothing about. Ilja Dragunov left the ring fuming after knowing that Tommaso Ciampa stole his victory against Carmelo Hayes.

Ilja Dragunov extended his title reign to 49 days and has been throwing the United States Open Challenge every week after defeating Sami Zayn to become the champion. The open challenge was started by John Cena and then reinstated by Sami Zayn, and Ilja Dragunov has been carrying forward the legacy of the open challenge ever since.

AND STILL!@UNBESIEGBAR_ZAR retains 🏆 pic.twitter.com/tPIeAkHOmE
— WWE (@WWE) December 6, 2025

Furious Ilja Dragunov to Face Tommaso Ciampa Next Week

Mad Dragon left the ring, infuriated, and asked Nick Aldis for a match against Tommaso Ciampa. Nick Aldis was quick to give him the match. These two will now face each other on Friday Night SmackDown next week.

Initially, Carmelo Hayes and Ilja Dragunov faced each other in a hard-fought match and traded some brutal blows. The momentum shifted during the entire match. It was Carmelo Hayes who was dominating Ilja Dragunov in the final moments of the match was stolen of the sure shot victory when Tomasso Ciampa interrupted and made him lose his balance while performing a Frog Splash.

Carmelo Hayes is ROLLING! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/HMc5mpqt4g
— WWE (@WWE) December 6, 2025

Carmelo Hayes delivered a DDT to Ilja Dragunov on the apron and was about to deliver a Frog Splash when Tommaso Ciampa pulled his leg. Carmelo Hayes lost his balance, and Ilja Dragunov, not knowing about the interruption, delivered a Torpedo Moskau followed by an H-Bomb to secure victory.

Come on, Ciampa! 😡 pic.twitter.com/frHVoXU1CY
— WWE (@WWE) December 6, 2025

Image Credit: WWE.com

Carmelo Hayes

Friday Night SmackDown

Ilja Dragunov

WWE

WWE SmackDown

Ashish Negi

nfl

wrestling

I am Ashish Negi, and I work as a WWE and NFL writer at The Playoffs. I have 5 years of experience in content writing, and I have written in different domains like Real Estate, but I found my love while writing in sports. I love watching sports and have been a fan of WWE and cricket. I got an opportunity to write full-time on WWE and NFL here, so following the footstep of my hero John Cena, I turn heel on my last company