Ilja Dragunov vs. Tommaso Ciampa AEW National Title Match Winner, Top Highlights from Full Gear 2026

Ilja Dragunov beat Tommaso Ciampa at Full Gear on Saturday to win the National Championship, giving him his first title since joining AEW.

The clash between Ciampa and Dragunov came together quickly after Ciampa defeated Andrade El Idolo to become the new national champion on the Nov. 7 episode of Collision.

Ciampa had a successful title defense against "Speedball" Mike Bailey days later on Dynamite, and following his victory, Ciampa was interrupted by Dragunov.

A furious Ciampa pulled Dragunov off the ropes during his entrance, leading to an argument and Dragunov pointed at the big screen to show that Ciampa vs. Dragunov was official for Full Gear.

Dragunov then went for a handshake, only for Ciampa to flip him off, making it clear that there would be no mutual respect.

Both Ciampa and Dragunov are fairly recent additions to the AEW roster, and it hasn't taken them long to make an impact.

Ciampa joined AEW in January 2026 and won gold in his first match, beating Mark Briscoe for the TNT Championship. Although his reign lasted less than two weeks, Ciampa went on to win a number of matches against big names, including Chris Jericho.

Dragunov came to AEW last month, making his debut at WrestleDream, and beating Bailey in his debut match.

Ciampa and Dragunov have plenty of history, facing each other in singles matches in Germany's wXw promotion in 2015 and in WWE just last year.

That familiarity yielded a great match at Full Gear, and while Dragunov secured the first victory to become national champion, there may be many more encounters to come.