After working a highly contested match at The Great American Bash with the NXT Championship on the line, a match some say Trick Williams impacted in a way that severely assisted the champion, Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes will hit the mat once more at No Mercy, this time, with pride, more so than the title on the line.

If Hayes can secure the win without Trick Willie by his side, as he'll be busy with his own title match against “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio, it will go a long way in defining his legacy as the better man, but if he falters, or his partner has to come out to help secure the W, it could signify a new era in NXT, with Dragunov taking his rightful place on top.

Sitting down for an interview with Fightful ahead of the fateful show, Dragunov acknowledges the gravity of the situation and the importance of coming correct in Bakersfield.

“I think I bring out a lot of different things out of a lot of people because what I do in the ring is so entirely different compared to a lot of other different performers next to me,” Ilja Dragunov said via Fightful. “When I step into this ring will certainly feel something, because I feel something. Because as soon as I step into this ring everything is real to me, even before this. Everything is real to me. When I step in, I’m coming for a fight. I’m coming into break absolutely everything. The entire passion that I carry around with myself that everybody feels. Yeah, I bring different sides out of people because you need a lot to get me down. I’m not going to make it easy for you.”

Asked how he plans to produce different results from his first match, Dragunov admits he has to bring an even meaner side to the ring in order to come out on top.

“You look at the struggle that was there, you look at the entire back and forth between us—most definitely,” Dragunov said. “Because he’s the champ. He needs to bring out different sides of different people. It is absolutely necessary. If you can’t do that, you shouldn’t be champion. He’s gotta prove himself towards me. He did, I think. The people were absolutely excited to see that match that you can just hear the noise in the arena. There is something that people, I think, absolutely remember.”

Can Dragunov overcome the challenge of Hayes with the top title in NXT on the line? Maybe yes, maybe no, but based on Hayes' comments, it sounds like he isn't going to back down from the challenge.

Carmelo Hayes isn't backing down from Ilja Dragunov.

While Ilja Dragunov is clearly confident in his chances of leaving No Mercy as a champion, Carmelo Hayes isn't exactly handing his title over and walking away without giving it hit all in the ring.

Discussing his in-ring chemistry with the “Unbesiegbar,” Hayes noted that, after feeling each other out in their first match, he's ready to deliver a decisive victory at No Mercy.

“I think we try to just give the fans something that they’re going to enjoy. Knowing what to expect, I think in that first match, it was a lot of feeling each other out. We’d never been in the ring before, not training or anything, and we had good chemistry at that point. This time there’s a lot more on the line. I think a lot of people were questioning that first win that I had. So I think I have a lot to prove, even as champion,” Carmelo Hayes told Uproxx Sports.

“If you watch that last match, I wasn’t doing really too much high flying. Wasn’t doing the kind of stuff that people are known for me doing. So I had to fight. He met his match because I came and I brought the fight to him. I feel a lot more confident than I did the first time around because now I think I know what to expect with Ilja.”

As Hayes noted, his first match with Dragunov was all about technical wrestling, with the man formerly known as the A-Champ rarely looking like the “Him” fans are used to. With Trick Willie likely unavailable to provide support – emotional or otherwise – in the match, it's on Hayes to figure out the best possible way to get over one of the most violent performers in the entire WWE Universe; a man who dethroned Gunther in NXT UK after almost 900 days. If Hayes can secure this win, it will go down as one of his best as the NXT Champion.