Ricochet Admits He Likely Would Have Never Gone To WWE If AEW Opened Sooner

Ricochet recently surprised WWE fans by leaving the company to sign with AEW. Before his WWE contract expired, he was written off television following a backstage attack by Bron Breakker, which cleared the way for his move to AEW. Reflecting on his career, Ricochet shared that if AEW had been around in 2018, he would have never signed with WWE in the first place.

After the third season of Lucha Underground aired in October 2017, Ricochet signed with WWE in early 2018. He made his televised debut for NXT at Takeover: New Orleans in April of that year with a lot of fanfare, and he was off to the races.

At the time, NXT was seen as one of the top wrestling shows around, with a roster full of talent including Adam Cole, Drew McIntyre, Andrade, Roderick Strong, Johnny Gargano, Keith Lee, Tommaso Ciampa, and so many more. While some of those names are no longer in WWE, the fact is that they are still big deals wherever they are.

On a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho, Ricochet shared that he had no interest in joining WWE’s Raw or SmackDown brands when he initially signed, as NXT was his primary focus.

“It was when Lucha [Underground] ended. Canyon Ceman contacted me for NXT, actually. At the time, the black and gold stuff was going crazy, they just did the Cesaro and Sami Zayn, Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke, and the Finn Balors and the Kevin Owens and all of those guys were just killing it. Not only that, but you had Undisputed Era when I was there and Aleister Black was there. That was kind of the only place I really wanted to be, I didn’t want to go to Raw or SmackDown, I wanted to be in NXT. I was only there for like nine months and then we got called up to Raw. It was actually me, Johnny, Aleister, and Tommaso.”

Reflecting on his decision to sign with WWE, Ricochet noted that the offer he received was a significant factor in his choice. However, he stated that if AEW had been an option at the time, he likely would have chosen to go in that direction instead.

“I got lucky because I had a pretty decent deal going in. It wasn’t like — That’s kind of what drew me there, was the deal was too good to turn down. At the time, if AEW was even a thought or a plan or anything, I for sure would’ve went this direction for sure,”

Ricochet is still going strong in AEW, and he’s done a lot in the short time he’s been All Elite so far. He also has a match with Will Ospreay on the horizon, which is a contest many fans wants to see.

Ricochet signed a multi-year contract with All Elite Wrestling and made his debut three days later at All In 2024 as a surprise entrant in the Casino Gauntlet match. Despite his appearance, he was unsuccessful in winning the match. Ricochet had his first singles match on the August 28 AEW Dynamite, where he defeated Kyle Fletcher.

We will keep a close eye on Ricochet and whatever he does next in the pro wrestling world. He is still lighting up AEW, and drawing attention to himself on social media as well. In the end, he’s happy with his position in life, and that matters most.

What’s your take on Ricochet leaving WWE for AEW? Do you think AEW would have a much different roster if they opened their doors sooner? Let us know what you think in the comments section!