Samantha Irvin’s True Feelings About Ricochet Leaving WWE for AEW

Ricochet shocked fans when his WWE contract expired, and he debuted for AEW at All In 2024. Although the writing was on the wall, with Bron Breakker destroying him in a backstage attack to get him off television, and his deal running out, but this still brought a lot of questions because the One And Only’s fiancé is still working in WWE.

Samantha Irvin has come into her own over the past few years, and she’s receiving a mountain of praise in the process. Even Michael Buffer gave Irvin her flowers after WrestleMania 40, where she got emotional announcing Cody Rhodes as the new Undisputed WWE Champion. That being said, she cares deeply about WWE and everything that she announces, especially Ricochet’s name.

Ricochet appeared on Chris Jericho’s Talk is Jericho podcast. He reflected on his move from WWE to AEW, explaining that when he first joined WWE’s main roster, Paul Heyman was in charge of creative. During that time, Ricochet had the opportunity to face top stars and even held the U.S. Championship. However, as the leadership changed, he felt his role shifted, and he became more focused on making other wrestlers look good.

While he acknowledged that WWE is a large, global production where everyone has a specific role to play, Ricochet said that he felt that he was stuck in a position he didn’t want. Now, looking back, he believes he made the right decisions for his career by moving to AEW. Then Samantha Irvin came up in the conversation, and how he considered what she would think about his departure.

“It definitely was a thought, but we have a really good relationship. Whether it’s her or me or vice versa, we’re like, what is really going to make you the happiest, and then we help that partner get there. She understands the type of artist that I am and the wrestler that I am. She understands, not being stifled, but not being pushed to your full potential. She’s like, ‘What’s going to make you the happiest will make all of us the happiest because as a group, we’re going to be happy.’ She’s for it. She’s carving her own path right now and I’m for that. We’re doing it right now and we’re very happy.” 

AEW has signed a lot of wrestlers after their runs in WWE ended. At this point, it’s hard to hear about any releases from WWE without a conversation starting about them becoming All Elite in only a matter of time. It certainly happened for Ricochet, and he’s very happy about that.

Ricochet has also gone on the recording saying that he isn’t sure that he would have ever signed with WWE if AEW was around in 2018 when he signed his deal to start in NXT. That was quite a statement, and it speaks to how happy he is in AEW.

We will keep a close eye on Ricochet for whatever he does next in AEW. He has a ton of potential, and he’s just starting out his multi-year contract with Tony Khan’s company. Obviously, a match against Will Ospreay is something that many fans want to see, and Khan seems to be on board to make that happen.

What’s your take on Ricochet leaving WWE for AEW? Do you believe that he will an even bigger star in AEW? Let us know what you think in the comments section!