Ricochet Says WWE Went With Quantity Over Quality With His Booking

Ricochet is the latest WWE star to make the jump to AEW, a move that many saw coming. Despite his immense talent, Ricochet never quite reached the top booking level that fans believed he deserved in WWE. After WWE wrote him off television with a backstage attack from Bron Breakker, it became clear that the One and Only was heading to AEW. Now, he’s opening up about his time with WWE in an honest and reflective manner.

During his years with WWE, Ricochet captured the WWE Intercontinental and United States Championships, but his run wasn’t without criticism. Frustrated with his creative direction, Ricochet eventually allowed his contract to expire on July 1. Shortly after, he signed with AEW and made his debut at AEW All In, marking the next chapter in his wrestling career.

In an interview on The Masked Man Show, Ricochet was asked if his final years in WWE were frustrating. He didn’t point fingers at anyone else, choosing instead to hold himself accountable. Despite his struggles, Ricochet had nothing but praise for the WWE locker room and expressed gratitude for meeting his fiancée, Samantha Irvin, while working for the company.

“Honestly, you can place blame anywhere, but I just blame myself. Everyone can blame who they want to blame, everybody can blame anybody, but I just blame myself because that’s the only person that I can blame because that’s all you can do. Obviously I didn’t do something. I don’t know what it was. For me, frustrating is maybe not the word because my last couple years, I met my future wife there, I made mad connections. The locker room was always awesome.”

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“As far as creatively, I mean yeah, there would have been more I would have liked to do just again, mostly for the fans that want to see me do stuff, not even for me, but it’s more frustrating for the fans who want to see me go out there and actually do something of some substance. I was out there a lot. I was on television a lot, I was actually used a lot, but the quality of what I was doing specifically wasn’t there. It was a lot of quantity of Ricochet, but the quality of what he was getting just wasn’t what I wanted, and that’s okay. That’s just how it falls. I can only blame myself. I can’t blame anybody else. I just can’t. But it wasn’t really frustrating because I had a lot of good times there still. But was there more I wanted to do? Absolutely. But man, I can’t say it was frustrating because I still had a good time.”

As Ricochet begins his journey in AEW, all eyes will be on how Tony Khan handles his booking. Ricochet’s AEW debut took place during a match where Nigel McGuinness received a massive pop upon returning to the ring in front of a London crowd. His match against Kyle Fletcher served as a solid main event for Dynamite, but AEW will need to ensure that Ricochet’s momentum continues with meaningful storylines.

Will Ospreay made his presence known at the end of AEW Dynamite last week but was quickly ambushed by Pac, who has a match against him for the International Title at All Out. The possibility of future showdowns between Ricochet and Ospreay is tantalizing, and fans can only hope that they can recreate the magic from their iconic Battle of the Super Juniors match years ago.

For more updates on Ricochet’s AEW journey and all things Tony Khan, keep it locked here at Ringside News. We’ll continue to bring you the latest news as Ricochet finds his footing in AEW and carves out his place in this new chapter of his career.

What’s your take on Ricochet’s booking in AEW? Do you think that Tony Khan needed to do something else? Let us know what you think in the comments section!