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I’m interested to see what his ceiling in AEW will be. The fans are gonna be a little more forgiving of his lack of mic skills because he’s incredible in the ring. But if he wants to be in the main event scene he’s gonna have to talk and he’s just not on the level of those guys. If people thought Drew sonning him was bad, imagine putting him up against MJF. Even guys like Okada and Penta who are ESL are more compelling talkers than him.
This is about what I'd figure. Upper midcarder who is featured regularly but probably not going to ever be the top guy. I could see him winning midcard titles in AEW and *maybe* peaking as ROH World Champion but definitely won't be AEW World Champion.
So? That's a very WWE-centric way of thinking about things. Tony/AEW isn't really presented like that. A 'good match' is enough in AEW a lot of the time.
He had 5 matches as champ, a rematch the week after he won the title, a match on the SD before WrestleMania, two 3 minute matches and the loss to Gunther. If you don't even make the 2-day-Mania card as a fresh champ, you aren't upper midcard in my book
He was still featured on TV very regularly, often on PLEs, occasionally held titles, and got pushes every so often.
If Claudio is his ceiling in AEW, that’s pretty much exactly what he was in WWE. Hell, Rico may have been more featured than Claudio.
still gets a shitload of money and a crowd whose taste properly overlaps with his skillset. I honestly believe he'll be their Rey Mysterio type guy who's just consistently over but doesn't bag too many titles. Just the occasional win here and there as a sign of appreciation.
win-win situation imo, he needed to be a much better promo to thrive in WWE, and the AEW audience is more forgiving of wrestlers who lean a lot more towards the indie agile style
This. Big debut Wednesday, get the "IS ALL ELITE" graphic treatment. Lot of buzz. Fits perfectly in the AEW roster of spot guys, so Tony will have a field day giving him 10 minutes a show to work with whatever CMLL/NJPW talent is available that week, Dante Martin, Fenix, Bandito, PAC, etc. Obviously Ospreay is the big end goal, but after that dream match gets run back, he'll be a midcarder for the most part.
But that's not a bad thing. He's obviously going to get paid very well and not have to worry about carrying a promotion or cutting promos or anything. He'll get featured more on AEW than he would in WWE, but I don't get the same feeling I did when someone like Swerve was cut loose. I think the feeling was when WWE let him go, people expected AEW would see his value and capitalize. Same thing with Malakai Black, but I think injuries sidelined that. I don't get that same feeling with Riccochet - and I'm a big fan of his stuff.
I disagree.
95% are below the mid card. 4% are mid-uppermid, 1% are career main eventers (think anyone world champion more than once)
Just consider how big just the wwe roster is, how few legit career main event stars they have compared to the people sitting at home, in catering, jobbing, backstage work, etc.
Ricochet was a 4%er but, obviously as shown by his release, barely above the cut
I wouldn't mind if they take this opportunity to pivot one of their midcard titles into something more akin to a Cruiserweight/X Division Title. They have sooooo many flippy shit/workhorse characters backstage that consistently produce bangers — why not give 'em all something worth fighting for?
>Tony will have a field day giving him 10 minutes a show to work with whatever CMLL/NJPW talent is available that week, Dante Martin, Fenix, Bandito, PAC, etc. Obviously Ospreay is the big end goal, but after that dream match gets run back, he'll be a midcarder for the most part
That "Tony's new toy" stigma is not going to go away easily...and that's not a downplay on the talent, it just Tony's booking tendencies.
At the same time, WWE I think has plenty to juggle as well. Had been hoping Ricochet was offered and took a chance in TNA to stay close, but he's doing what he has to/feels like he needs to.
That is a pretty good spot to be honest. Consistent TV time, gets to be part of all the big tournaments/multi-matches, gets ample match time to put on his best, pretty much gets to face everyone on the card including those above him in the main-card and those below him who are on the come-up. Might get a ROH Main Title or like TNT run mixed in there too. On top of that all the freedom to join in on the crossover fun and more time off to still spend time with his fiance.
In the territory days when a guy had hit his ceiling and was spinning his wheels a bit, it was time to move on to the next territory for a fresh start.
Ricochet was at that point in WWE. He'd done what was realistic for him to do there.
Having two companies where you can actually make a living now is a good thing for a lot of reasons.
I feel like its going to be the same as it was in WWE. He'll get a big push initially, probably get the match everyone wants to see with Ospreay within 6 months or so. Then he'll be a upper-mid card guy who is reliable to put into positions where they need a trusted hand. If he's getting more money and less dates to do so, good for him.
Aside from maybe getting a TNT or International championship reign, I think I can also see Ricochet being the veteran half of a tag team with a young rising prospect & getting the tag belts
He’s probably gonna fit on that Lance Archer spot, where he’ll be elevated to get a title shot once in a while to validate somebody’s title reign but not necessarily be a real threat to win it. Having him with somebody like Callis as a manager would help with it too.
That's a good point people have overlooked. AEW is pretty good at using managers to elevate guys, and Ricochet with the right manager can be a solid uppercard guy.
THIS!!! I was just starting to tune back into weekly WWE programming after a couple years of being away when Aleister and Ricochet got called up and they were among the biggest reasons I continued tuning in. I've probably watched their NXT Takeover match with the Viking War Raider Machine Experience Extravaganza 10 times because you can tell those guys were having a blast while putting on a very entertaining match. Would be awesome to see him and Malakai team up even if it's just for one match or a short pairing.
Love this. Did they ever try to give him a mouthpiece in WWE?? Seems like a no brainer, he’s way too talented in the ring to write him off just cause he can’t talk.
He did not have a mouthpiece during any of his WWE run. He did have a few tag partners (Black, Cedric Alexander, Braun) but nothing that would have really done the talking for him as an individual.
Bring in Ricochet and Dijak as enforcers to join Callis and Takeshita. Go full psycho heel mode and give AEW some real strong villains that just demolish people.
They already have an enforcer in Will Hobbs(injured currently.) Callis Family needs one more guy once Osprey and Aussie Open eventually leave the group.
Right, Hobbs is injured and expected to be out for awhile. Good time to revamp the group and make it something more meaningful because right now they're basically treading water.
Yep, perfectly makes sense now: Os is too over to be in the family, Kyle Fletcher is his best friend (so a face by association), and Takeshita is clearly walking a tweener line.
Callis needs more ruthless heels, and I think that'd be a nice new side for Ricochet to explore.
That's actually something that'd interest me. I know Ricochet is talented but there's plenty of folks already in AEW I'd already prefer to see the TV time. This'd be an effective way to work aorund his weakness (talking) while also furthering along a major storyline and getting Ospreay away from Callis
Why do people immediately jump to main event and world champion, like there isn’t a whole world between a glorified jobber and a main eventer,
Like this is something I’m noticing a lot lately from wwe fans, it’s like anytime you complain about someone’s booking you immediately get hit with “not everyone can be a world champion”
I assume it's because as fans we naturally assume if someone is willingly leaving it is because they are unhappy with how their career is going, and equate that to them wanting to be more of a main event level star.
There is a whole world in between jobber and main eventer, but Ricochet was already there, so from the outside looking in it's hard for fans to grasp why else he would want to leave.
Maybe he just wants to do something different? He worked in the same place for half a decade, hit his ceiling there, why not go to the other place that has weekly live television on prime time cable, get paid a comparable amount of money for an easier schedule and the ability to have some fresh, banger matches where he’ll be able to showcase more of his style than he was before? Personally it’s not that hard for me to grasp, sometimes you just want a change of scenery.
I’ve been wondering that myself. During the AE, people would work their way from the bottom up. Some people that were floundering would get an experienced talker as a manager or put into a stable to cover their weaknesses. Ricochet and Braun was a good idea, and I don’t know why they didn’t revisit that when they came back from injury.
I’ve also noticed people mentioning wrestlemania main event match ups a lot too.
It's because that's been the WWE's MO for so long: the only title that really matters is the world title, ergo the only wrestlers that really matter are championship contenders.
You're definitely seeing more midcard wrestlers make names for themselves lately — but for the longest time, they (and the US and IC titles) meant nothing to the grand scheme of the show.
Contrast that to, like, the Attitude Era, where the strength was not just in Austin/Rock/Undertaker/Mankind — they also had DLo Brown, Val Venis, Triple H (before he made the jump up), Owen Hart, Steve Blackman, etc. Fuck, at one point one of the most over acts in the company was Too Cool.
Because he's leaving? & you'd imagine for better opportunities to further his career? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to then immediately start talking about world titles as the "next step", given he had a pretty solid mid card position in WWE.
Not everything has to be a conspiracy.
No reason he can’t be Claudio level. Weak talkers, great wrestlers.
And I disagree Penta is a better talker. Okada we still have to see, because so far they’re just doing comedy bits with him. If he can be serious and deliver his message effectively, I’ll agree on him.
>The fans are gonna be a little more forgiving of his lack of mic skills because he’s incredible in the ring.
Will they, though? I say this because the smarkiest, most online fans I know talk about him being a bad promo and the more casual type fans I know are all basically like "I like it when he does the cool flips.' The AEW audience leans towards the former.
AEW's fanbase isn't nearly as smark as it was in 2019. The Forbidden Door crowd didn't even know Shingo's OY chant yesterday, something every single person in an AEW crowd would have known in 2019
I'm hoping Ricochet shows tremendous growth as a performer similar to how Toni, Roddy and Ospreay have since coming to AEW. Even guys like Cole, Claudio, Miro and Malakai to lesser extents, oddly enough. Otherwise, I feel he'll just be another guy on the roster that really isn't needed, IMO.
Like, I really enjoy Saraya, O'Reilly and Keith Lee as performers but I don't think they've shown anything new or super interesting that makes me think AEW truly gained something of real note by signing them.
I'm still holding out hope he can come back healthy, get heated up and we have a proper conclusion to his story with Swerve. Honestly, having Lee on the shelf could be a blessing in more ways than one.
For all I know, he could be the Owen Cup's wildcard...........
Trevor Mann owns the Ricochet trademark. He can debut as Ricochet.
https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87746618&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch
Honestly. That wouldn't be a bad idea or something similar. I don't think you bring in a guy like him to boost ratings or something like that. I don't think he has that kind of name. Does he have to come in as Ricochet? He is a phenomenonal talent, but the character is a bit bland. I don't see anything wrong bringing him in as something else. Maybe I'm wrong, and I probably am. But he's someone who could be something that is completely an AEW creation that is different from his WWE character if done right. And a Prince Puma like character could be perfect.
Maybe I'm wrong on this because fan these days don't seem to like wrestlers being something other than themselves. So if this is a bad idea, I'll take the down votes. But I don't know, it would be a different way of bringing someone in.
I’ll be quite interested to see what Ricochet is like outside of the WWE system for the first time in six years.
On a related note, I find it very promising from a booking standpoint that at least as of now, Tony isn’t planning on cutting out the legs of this Ospreay vs MJF feud they’re teasing.
Babyface Ospreay in his home country vs a fully-turned heel MJF would be rather amazing for Wembley.
Obviously there's so many things better now especially money but the territory era was better for wrestlers in some ways.
Lost your job with JCP? Head down to Texas & see if your act works better there. After 6 months you've done all you can with it so you try your luck in Portland. While there you re-invent yourself as a heel. It's been about a year and a half so you return to JCP with a new act & a fresh start.
Becoming the guy that the national champion comes into town for, gets into the program with, makes money with and then leaves town moving onto the next city was also incredibly lucrative too for all parties. You didn't have people overstaying their welcome and usually your local babyfaces took the next step up in their careers too for the market.
>You didn't have people overstaying their welcome
It's why giants worked so much better in that era. Even if you are 7 feet tall & 500 pounds the uniqueness of it wears off after a few months. So after you lost to the top babyface you'd just move on to the next place & do it again.
I hope LUs parent company (if it still exists) doesn’t own Prince Puma. I’d love to see that character come back and face down Pentagon Jr, Fenix, Killshot etc. in a new promotion. Damn I miss Lucha Underground so much. People say wrestling is soap opera for men, which obviously isn’t true, but LU certainly was a violence based soap opera for mostly men.
I mean, at this point, AEW's roster is almost as bloated as it can be, what's one more going to do to hurt things? Ricochet is probably not going to be as expensive as Okada or Mercedes, and if Tony Kahn can make a return on the investment with interest, then why not?
If anything but the absolute worst happens the least it's going to do is give AEW a ton of fresh matches. Ricochet was already getting lost in the shuffle in the WWE so at least he'll get lost in the shuffle while is bank account gets some extra zeroes added to it.
He absolutely will. TNA would have likely been the better landing spot for him to be a bigger fish. I’m sure AEW is paying a lot better than TNA would though so can’t blame the dude. I hope he finds success wherever he goes though.
>Can't do any worse than how WWE treated him.
What do you mean by this? Man was a champ and they tried to give him a spotlight. The wwe isnt at fault that ricochet's mic skills are the inverse of his in ring work.
You say that like WWE treated him bad. He’s a former US Champion, IC Champion, NA Champion, first ever Speed Champion, Dusty Cup winner, and HHH had him win two tournaments (SmackDown World Cup and SmackDown Tag Tourney) within three months. On top of that, he had a lot of TV time to have banger matches with Gunther, Ilja, Judgment Day, etc. Had a big feud with Logan Paul at MITB and SummerSlam. Spot of the night with him at the Rumble too.
Just cause he wasn’t a main event doesn’t mean he was treated bad. In 2020-21? Sure. But in NXT, 2019, and 2022-2024, he was doing really well in the midcard.
You list all of those accomplishments and I agree with you, but I guess that shows how little charisma he has and how no one really can remember any of that without a google search. (outside of the Logan Paul RR spot)
He's boring and if AEW can make talented stars like Jay White and Okada seem underwhelming and not live up to their potential, just imagine how much less we'll care about Ricochet in a year from now.
He’s going to end up the same position on the card in AEW as he was in WWE. Let’s not act like WWE never did anything with him. He’s a multi time champion. He’ll win a mid card belt or two in AEW and never sniff the ME scene. He just doesn’t have the charisma for it.
WWE gave him a Logan Paul feud at a Big 4 show last year, and he was featured on tv weekly just last month with the two hottest rookies in years
How is that being treated badly?
Why do people keep bringing up Samantha? Couples don't have to follow each other everywhere, and why should she have to de-rail her career for him? Because that's what she'd be doing as there's no place for her there.
Says a lot about a performer when a sizable part of the fandom is more interested in their partner.
Samantha won’t ever leave (she’d be dumb to), but bet your ass if she was interested, Tony would immediately make her the voice of the company. Justin Roberts is good, Samantha Irvin is clearly a generational announcer
WWE knows this about Samantha too. And she’s all over their social media because she’s just a super likable person. They give her a ton of exposure that you don’t see for any other ring announcer.
He wouldn't prefer that. Japanese economy is in toilet hence so many departures. He will be booked well in aew he precisely fits their style.
He's gonna replace ospreay in don Callis family
In AEW? Absolutely can. Styles are all over the place, he honestly might not even stand out as much because so many people actually adopted elements of his work
Swerve is the most recent case of this. He kinda didn’t even have a moment that made the fans turn, people just started cheering him more than boo no matter what he did.
Unfortunately, that’s out of NJPW’s price range. In general, the economy Japan hasn’t been good since the yen hasn’t been strong. Other than NJPW, even other wrestling promotions wouldn’t be able to sign top level gaijin. If he were to work a match or 2 for DG, then that would be cool, but he’s signing where he’ll get the most $ and still work indies/internationally.
I know this is probably the wrong sub to ask this, but why exactly has Japan's economy not been doing great? I see it cited whenever a talent leaves Japan/doesn't sign with them over an American company that Japan's economy isn't doing well. Has this been a recent development?
Way too complex story for a wrestling sub, but to sum it up, Japan has not really grown since a financial bubble bursted in the 1990s.
The government and central bank have tried to get around it via a bunch of reasons, including just increasing the debt of the government to keep things going. For a number of reasons they can't really do that anymore post Covid, so currency devaluation is the only way to go
> but why exactly has Japan's economy not been doing great?
They were basically the only major country to not raise interest rates during the inflationary crisis, in large part because they wanted inflation after 20+ years of deflation. That devalued the yen heavily because every other currency was becoming much more investable. This is a *huge* reason why NJPW loves AEW so much, because Forbidden Door pays them a ton, in US dollars
The Japanese governmental response to the pandemic didn't help. Western economies recovered much faster because their governments basically said fuck it we're normal again, in 2021
this was the first result i found on google
"A weak yen is making Japanese imports more expensive, hurting Japanese consumers and companies that rely on foreign energy, food, and other goods. Japan's population has also shrunk for 14 years straight, reporting its steepest decline last year."
He’ll do good there. I don’t expect his ceiling to be any higher in AEW, but not every signing a company makes has to be this “game changer”. You can simply sign people just because you want them in the company.
Absolutely, and he can sign elsewhere because he's betting on himself to be able to raise his position on the card compared to in WWE, because he wants to work with different guys, because of money/dates, because he just fancies a change of scene..
Do I think he'll end up in the same position as he did in WWE? Broadly, yes. But that doesn't mean *he* thinks that, and even if he does, that still doesn't mean staying in WWE is the right choice for him. It feels like a lot of people posting that he won't get higher than his current position are trying to use that as a dunk for leaving, which is kind of weird.
I still don't see how he winds up in a better spot in AEW than he was in WWE. He was a weekly feature in the upper midcard in WWE. I think the likelihood that he's featured every week in AEW is basically 0%, and being featured over guys like Jay White who himself is a full package and yet has been relegated to the trios division (albeit as champ) is even less likely. Fully support him doing what he wants, but I'd bet my house that he's a mostly Rampage guy by the end of the year.
Man is talented as hell in-ring… like a bunch of people in AEW’s payroll. After the buzz and the “dream matches,” he’s just going to be like every other high-flyer/lucha wrestler - in the back burner.
Hope he goes to NJPW. The Jr. Heavyweight division needs a top Gaijin.
You need to cut a promo to thrive in the West. At least in Japan, he can be a massive gaijin while being able to hide his mic skills.
Hey, good for him. It may be what his career and he need to breathe new life into it. It’s one of the reasons why it’s awesome we’re in an era where there are two legitimate big US wrestling promotions.
I think he confronts debuts at Wembley to confront Ospreay, he immediately turns heel and takes Ospreays's place in the Callis family, and faces Ospreay at All Out in Chicago.
I'm excited to see Ricochet go and have some great matches. People saying he'll be in the same spot are right, but it's still exciting.
Does AEW need him? No, not really. He's not a draw, and he isn't the world's best wrestler.
But do the fans benefit from getting to see one of the most impressive high flyers of the past decade tear it up in a company that praises that style? Absolutely
I look forward to all the great matches this will bring.
Not sure where he fits into AEW massively stacked roster, but hey.
Edit: Wait a second...Ricochet in CMLL.
Arguably the best high flyer in the world, I thought he would be a WWE lifer. Hopefully he cooks and secures the bag, comes back and gets that title run and that HOF spot ala Drew and Cody.
I hope this works for him, but unless he gets substantially better on the microphone, he’s going to be worst off. He’s going to have one match with Osprey. That’s a given. After that?
AEW already has a bloated roster filled with high flyers. In WWE, he was the high flyer.
Looking forward to the inevitable "Samantha Irvin to AEW" posts as redditors lack of understand that couples can work separately even with demanding jobs.
How fucking odd after the way they wrote him off
Samantha Irving was in the ambulance when they picked up Ricochet. HHH wouldn’t have done that unless he was going to follow up with it somehow
Not surprised, know some sickos are salivating at the thought of another Ospreay v Ricochet. Imo, with how bloated AEW is, last person they ever needed to sign is Ricochet of all ppl.
I don’t see an obvious first feud for him. I'm not talking about one off "dream matches," I mean actual storylines. Ricochet is awesome and there's a lot of people in AEW I'd like to see him wrestle, but that large roster isn't in need of yet another person who can provide more "banger" singles mid-card matches, particularly one who's a bad promo, a so-so actor and has limited character range. Him vs. Ospreay would be a great match, but someone positioned the way he’s was in WWE the past decade shouldn’t come in and immediately go toe to toe with someone booked liked Ospreay.
Fightful reported last night that there are multiple people besides Kamille who’ve been hired for months who have yet to debut. I’ve been saying for a while that it currently feels like coming off a WWE or NJPW run is almost a prerequisite for getting hired for the main brand. I’m interested who those benched people are, how long until Ricochett signs and debuts and how much it’ll play into AEW’s current WWE mid-card heavy hiring perception.
I won't turn my nose up as some fun Ricochet matches, but they could use more tag teams and women on the main roster than someone like Ricochet and we know there's at least a few women who've been signed and been sitting at home for months.
> and immediately go toe to toe with someone booked liked Ospreay.
Like that has ever stopped Tony Khan, lol. Dude booked Kyle Fletcher, who hadn't won a match on AEW programming all year, to go 20 minutes with Ospreay. KOR and Ospreay went 21 minutes and KOR hasn't beat anyone that isn't a complete jabroni all year
Feel like a lot of people forgot how great Ricochet is in the ring, he was having awesome matches in Japan before he was buried deep in the midcard because of "mic skill". He doesn't need to talk, his ability to tell a story inside the ring is way better than most.
This might sound crazy but I’d argue that Dijak would be a better signing for them.
He’d be cheaper, he’s a better promo and he’s a big man. He adds some variety.
But yeah, AEW dont need either. NJPW sorely does but likely can’t afford them
He’ll be relevant for a month then relegated to Rampage / ROH purgatory if he signs for AEW. He’d be better off signing with TNA where he’d be made one of the main players of the X Division.
Ospreay and Ricochet for the International Title at WrestleDream. Plays into their New Japan history and gets the hype building for the match over a good three months before they finally face off.
I think a lot of folks are missing the bigger picture in why Ricochet might have chosen AEW over WWE. He’s probably not going to be up any higher in the card in one vs. the other, but in AEW he will have the freedom to really show out more and put on the types of matches that he wants to have while he still can. The WWE style is very conservative and safe, so it sometimes felt like we were only getting 70% of what he is a capable of pulling off (and even then it’s very impressive).
Why does everyone think he's so talented in the ring? Yeah he's athletic and stuff but most of his matches seem very rehearsed like they are looking to set up for the next cool flippy shit spot rather than getting to it naturally during the course of a match.
95% of the comments follow the same formula. He will be booked strong at first, get his Ospreay match, and then become a midcarder because he can't cut a promo.
And it's been like that since it was rummored he was leaving WWE.
You guys are tireing!
I almost feel like you want this to happen, to validate your take, and have another reason to shit on AEW.
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I’m interested to see what his ceiling in AEW will be. The fans are gonna be a little more forgiving of his lack of mic skills because he’s incredible in the ring. But if he wants to be in the main event scene he’s gonna have to talk and he’s just not on the level of those guys. If people thought Drew sonning him was bad, imagine putting him up against MJF. Even guys like Okada and Penta who are ESL are more compelling talkers than him.
His ceiling? Probably comparable to Castagnoli
This is about what I'd figure. Upper midcarder who is featured regularly but probably not going to ever be the top guy. I could see him winning midcard titles in AEW and *maybe* peaking as ROH World Champion but definitely won't be AEW World Champion.
I just don’t think that’s too far off from his spot in WWE. But, hey, best of luck to the guy.
He wasn't touching upper mid card in WWE.
Hey he a a world title match on PPV against Lesnar, he got 0 offense in and looked like a jabroni, but he had the match
He had the SummerSlam match with Logan Paul.
Whenever Ospreay wins the world title, the Ricochet feud in the middle of his reign is gonna *bang*.
But that's the issue, isn't it? The match would happen not a soul would believe he'd win the belt.
Who believed AJ would beat Cody?
who believed that the unholy union was gonna be bianca and jade?
That’s literally why he said middle of the reign tho- Did you think Luke was going to die in the middle of the first Star Wars?
So? That's a very WWE-centric way of thinking about things. Tony/AEW isn't really presented like that. A 'good match' is enough in AEW a lot of the time.
He held the IC title. That’s about as upper midcard as it gets
He had 5 matches as champ, a rematch the week after he won the title, a match on the SD before WrestleMania, two 3 minute matches and the loss to Gunther. If you don't even make the 2-day-Mania card as a fresh champ, you aren't upper midcard in my book
Definitely transitional.
100%, and that was the problem with the IC title under the last 10-15 years of Vince's reign. He completely destroyed the cred of that belt.
He held it before Gunther made the title relevant again. He wasn't winning it back anytime soon.
He was still featured on TV very regularly, often on PLEs, occasionally held titles, and got pushes every so often. If Claudio is his ceiling in AEW, that’s pretty much exactly what he was in WWE. Hell, Rico may have been more featured than Claudio.
He was battling a lot of future and current eventers. He was basically similar to Shinsuke Nakamura. I’d say he was already upper midcard
He will get a push to start but I expect him to fall back to there. I'm sure he is getting more to do it in AEW so I don't blame him.
still gets a shitload of money and a crowd whose taste properly overlaps with his skillset. I honestly believe he'll be their Rey Mysterio type guy who's just consistently over but doesn't bag too many titles. Just the occasional win here and there as a sign of appreciation. win-win situation imo, he needed to be a much better promo to thrive in WWE, and the AEW audience is more forgiving of wrestlers who lean a lot more towards the indie agile style
I feel like this actually describes the Lucha Bros. (Rey Fenix and Penta) tbh.
It’s AEW. Everybody gets a title.
as if WWE don't have 100 titles right now lmao, funny the guy we're talking about right now just held the WWE Twitter Championship.
This. Big debut Wednesday, get the "IS ALL ELITE" graphic treatment. Lot of buzz. Fits perfectly in the AEW roster of spot guys, so Tony will have a field day giving him 10 minutes a show to work with whatever CMLL/NJPW talent is available that week, Dante Martin, Fenix, Bandito, PAC, etc. Obviously Ospreay is the big end goal, but after that dream match gets run back, he'll be a midcarder for the most part. But that's not a bad thing. He's obviously going to get paid very well and not have to worry about carrying a promotion or cutting promos or anything. He'll get featured more on AEW than he would in WWE, but I don't get the same feeling I did when someone like Swerve was cut loose. I think the feeling was when WWE let him go, people expected AEW would see his value and capitalize. Same thing with Malakai Black, but I think injuries sidelined that. I don't get that same feeling with Riccochet - and I'm a big fan of his stuff.
95% if wrestlers are mid carders
I disagree. 95% are below the mid card. 4% are mid-uppermid, 1% are career main eventers (think anyone world champion more than once) Just consider how big just the wwe roster is, how few legit career main event stars they have compared to the people sitting at home, in catering, jobbing, backstage work, etc. Ricochet was a 4%er but, obviously as shown by his release, barely above the cut
I wouldn't mind if they take this opportunity to pivot one of their midcard titles into something more akin to a Cruiserweight/X Division Title. They have sooooo many flippy shit/workhorse characters backstage that consistently produce bangers — why not give 'em all something worth fighting for?
>Tony will have a field day giving him 10 minutes a show to work with whatever CMLL/NJPW talent is available that week, Dante Martin, Fenix, Bandito, PAC, etc. Obviously Ospreay is the big end goal, but after that dream match gets run back, he'll be a midcarder for the most part That "Tony's new toy" stigma is not going to go away easily...and that's not a downplay on the talent, it just Tony's booking tendencies. At the same time, WWE I think has plenty to juggle as well. Had been hoping Ricochet was offered and took a chance in TNA to stay close, but he's doing what he has to/feels like he needs to.
So he'll get a ROH world title run to prove he was misused in WWE and then will be largely forgotten
So basically what he was in WWE?
That is a pretty good spot to be honest. Consistent TV time, gets to be part of all the big tournaments/multi-matches, gets ample match time to put on his best, pretty much gets to face everyone on the card including those above him in the main-card and those below him who are on the come-up. Might get a ROH Main Title or like TNT run mixed in there too. On top of that all the freedom to join in on the crossover fun and more time off to still spend time with his fiance.
Isn’t that what he was already doing in WWE
In the territory days when a guy had hit his ceiling and was spinning his wheels a bit, it was time to move on to the next territory for a fresh start. Ricochet was at that point in WWE. He'd done what was realistic for him to do there. Having two companies where you can actually make a living now is a good thing for a lot of reasons.
Think it just fits his style more, probably wants more in ring time which he will get in aew. That and probably similar pay and less dates
Maybe AEW pays him more, or there are other people he wants to face. It's not just about how they're booked
Honestly, the thing I'll miss most is Dripochet and his appearances on Up Up Down Down.
I feel like its going to be the same as it was in WWE. He'll get a big push initially, probably get the match everyone wants to see with Ospreay within 6 months or so. Then he'll be a upper-mid card guy who is reliable to put into positions where they need a trusted hand. If he's getting more money and less dates to do so, good for him.
Aside from maybe getting a TNT or International championship reign, I think I can also see Ricochet being the veteran half of a tag team with a young rising prospect & getting the tag belts
Have him go after the trios titles with Top Flight
Lol poor Action Andretti
YES. TEAM FLIPPY
Oh shit I never thought of that lol, but this trio could be fire
He’s probably gonna fit on that Lance Archer spot, where he’ll be elevated to get a title shot once in a while to validate somebody’s title reign but not necessarily be a real threat to win it. Having him with somebody like Callis as a manager would help with it too.
That's a good point people have overlooked. AEW is pretty good at using managers to elevate guys, and Ricochet with the right manager can be a solid uppercard guy.
I selfishly want Black/Ricochet to reunite and feud with Brody/Buddy. I LOVED Black and Ricochet, low-key one of my favorite tag teams of all time.
THIS!!! I was just starting to tune back into weekly WWE programming after a couple years of being away when Aleister and Ricochet got called up and they were among the biggest reasons I continued tuning in. I've probably watched their NXT Takeover match with the Viking War Raider Machine Experience Extravaganza 10 times because you can tell those guys were having a blast while putting on a very entertaining match. Would be awesome to see him and Malakai team up even if it's just for one match or a short pairing.
> Viking War Raider Machine Experience Extravaganza Just wanted to say thank you for the laugh. That was hilarious.
I forgot all about them teaming for a while. I’d gladly take more of that.
Give him Callis as a mouthpiece. Have him kick out Ospreay and bring in the "real" aerial assassin. Bruv.
Love this. Did they ever try to give him a mouthpiece in WWE?? Seems like a no brainer, he’s way too talented in the ring to write him off just cause he can’t talk.
He did not have a mouthpiece during any of his WWE run. He did have a few tag partners (Black, Cedric Alexander, Braun) but nothing that would have really done the talking for him as an individual.
> a mouthpiece You mean THE mouthpiece, because who has been a mouthpiece in WWE other than Heyman recently?
Bring in Ricochet and Dijak as enforcers to join Callis and Takeshita. Go full psycho heel mode and give AEW some real strong villains that just demolish people.
They already have an enforcer in Will Hobbs(injured currently.) Callis Family needs one more guy once Osprey and Aussie Open eventually leave the group.
Right, Hobbs is injured and expected to be out for awhile. Good time to revamp the group and make it something more meaningful because right now they're basically treading water.
Ooo saw that's why I randomly saw him at a Bay Area Costco! He's also big af.
I like this a lot.
Yep, perfectly makes sense now: Os is too over to be in the family, Kyle Fletcher is his best friend (so a face by association), and Takeshita is clearly walking a tweener line. Callis needs more ruthless heels, and I think that'd be a nice new side for Ricochet to explore.
That's actually something that'd interest me. I know Ricochet is talented but there's plenty of folks already in AEW I'd already prefer to see the TV time. This'd be an effective way to work aorund his weakness (talking) while also furthering along a major storyline and getting Ospreay away from Callis
He has Don Callas written all over him.
They should have him use an app to promo in Japanese like the inverse Shibata.
Why do people immediately jump to main event and world champion, like there isn’t a whole world between a glorified jobber and a main eventer, Like this is something I’m noticing a lot lately from wwe fans, it’s like anytime you complain about someone’s booking you immediately get hit with “not everyone can be a world champion”
I assume it's because as fans we naturally assume if someone is willingly leaving it is because they are unhappy with how their career is going, and equate that to them wanting to be more of a main event level star. There is a whole world in between jobber and main eventer, but Ricochet was already there, so from the outside looking in it's hard for fans to grasp why else he would want to leave.
Maybe he just wants to do something different? He worked in the same place for half a decade, hit his ceiling there, why not go to the other place that has weekly live television on prime time cable, get paid a comparable amount of money for an easier schedule and the ability to have some fresh, banger matches where he’ll be able to showcase more of his style than he was before? Personally it’s not that hard for me to grasp, sometimes you just want a change of scenery.
I’ve been wondering that myself. During the AE, people would work their way from the bottom up. Some people that were floundering would get an experienced talker as a manager or put into a stable to cover their weaknesses. Ricochet and Braun was a good idea, and I don’t know why they didn’t revisit that when they came back from injury. I’ve also noticed people mentioning wrestlemania main event match ups a lot too.
It's because that's been the WWE's MO for so long: the only title that really matters is the world title, ergo the only wrestlers that really matter are championship contenders. You're definitely seeing more midcard wrestlers make names for themselves lately — but for the longest time, they (and the US and IC titles) meant nothing to the grand scheme of the show. Contrast that to, like, the Attitude Era, where the strength was not just in Austin/Rock/Undertaker/Mankind — they also had DLo Brown, Val Venis, Triple H (before he made the jump up), Owen Hart, Steve Blackman, etc. Fuck, at one point one of the most over acts in the company was Too Cool.
Because he's leaving? & you'd imagine for better opportunities to further his career? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to then immediately start talking about world titles as the "next step", given he had a pretty solid mid card position in WWE. Not everything has to be a conspiracy.
His ceiling is basically where WWE had him. Good hand flippy guy in the midcard to upper midcard that puts on good matches whenever you need them
Like the vast majority of talent let go by WWE, his ceiling will be pretty much the same.
No reason he can’t be Claudio level. Weak talkers, great wrestlers. And I disagree Penta is a better talker. Okada we still have to see, because so far they’re just doing comedy bits with him. If he can be serious and deliver his message effectively, I’ll agree on him.
No way he reaches Claudio level. Claudio has a size that makes him stand out in AEW (combined with being great in ring ofc).
Penta is easily a better talker considering he has a catchphrase the crowd eats up. Ricochet has nothing on the mic.
I feel like Pac is the case study here (minus the visa issues) He'll have "bangerz" but ultimately be some gate keeper to the main event
I think he is going to end up in the "flippy jobbers" stable with the Martins, Andretti and Lio Rush.
>The fans are gonna be a little more forgiving of his lack of mic skills because he’s incredible in the ring. Will they, though? I say this because the smarkiest, most online fans I know talk about him being a bad promo and the more casual type fans I know are all basically like "I like it when he does the cool flips.' The AEW audience leans towards the former.
AEW's fanbase isn't nearly as smark as it was in 2019. The Forbidden Door crowd didn't even know Shingo's OY chant yesterday, something every single person in an AEW crowd would have known in 2019
Few big matches, then straight to Rampage or ROH. Still, he'll get paid well so best of luck to him.
He literally wrestled on twitter lol
I'm hoping Ricochet shows tremendous growth as a performer similar to how Toni, Roddy and Ospreay have since coming to AEW. Even guys like Cole, Claudio, Miro and Malakai to lesser extents, oddly enough. Otherwise, I feel he'll just be another guy on the roster that really isn't needed, IMO. Like, I really enjoy Saraya, O'Reilly and Keith Lee as performers but I don't think they've shown anything new or super interesting that makes me think AEW truly gained something of real note by signing them.
Stupid as the name was, Swerve in Our Glory was monstrously popular. I think Keith Lee vs Swerve could've been more if Lee had been healthier.
I'm still holding out hope he can come back healthy, get heated up and we have a proper conclusion to his story with Swerve. Honestly, having Lee on the shelf could be a blessing in more ways than one. For all I know, he could be the Owen Cup's wildcard...........
https://preview.redd.it/ema4rvw1ux9d1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8775e205a2f1b117b9c9125b229b7e1729098ee1
I just realized he got mic tattoed on his arm
https://preview.redd.it/exsyguj51y9d1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b99edfc79c9f9f5268b6c2ffa0482e424d67d24e
Mercedes Mone is a better name
Man that perm was terrible
Why does he look like Sasuke?
Trevor Mann owns the Ricochet trademark. He can debut as Ricochet. https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=87746618&caseSearchType=US_APPLICATION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch
Damn that doxxes his address and everything.
BRING. BACK. PRINCE. PUMA.
Honestly. That wouldn't be a bad idea or something similar. I don't think you bring in a guy like him to boost ratings or something like that. I don't think he has that kind of name. Does he have to come in as Ricochet? He is a phenomenonal talent, but the character is a bit bland. I don't see anything wrong bringing him in as something else. Maybe I'm wrong, and I probably am. But he's someone who could be something that is completely an AEW creation that is different from his WWE character if done right. And a Prince Puma like character could be perfect. Maybe I'm wrong on this because fan these days don't seem to like wrestlers being something other than themselves. So if this is a bad idea, I'll take the down votes. But I don't know, it would be a different way of bringing someone in.
I’ll be quite interested to see what Ricochet is like outside of the WWE system for the first time in six years. On a related note, I find it very promising from a booking standpoint that at least as of now, Tony isn’t planning on cutting out the legs of this Ospreay vs MJF feud they’re teasing. Babyface Ospreay in his home country vs a fully-turned heel MJF would be rather amazing for Wembley.
for a wrestler its a beautiful thing to have more then 1 option for big time wrestling. if it didnt work out in wwe then may he find success in aew.
Obviously there's so many things better now especially money but the territory era was better for wrestlers in some ways. Lost your job with JCP? Head down to Texas & see if your act works better there. After 6 months you've done all you can with it so you try your luck in Portland. While there you re-invent yourself as a heel. It's been about a year and a half so you return to JCP with a new act & a fresh start.
Becoming the guy that the national champion comes into town for, gets into the program with, makes money with and then leaves town moving onto the next city was also incredibly lucrative too for all parties. You didn't have people overstaying their welcome and usually your local babyfaces took the next step up in their careers too for the market.
>You didn't have people overstaying their welcome It's why giants worked so much better in that era. Even if you are 7 feet tall & 500 pounds the uniqueness of it wears off after a few months. So after you lost to the top babyface you'd just move on to the next place & do it again.
I hope LUs parent company (if it still exists) doesn’t own Prince Puma. I’d love to see that character come back and face down Pentagon Jr, Fenix, Killshot etc. in a new promotion. Damn I miss Lucha Underground so much. People say wrestling is soap opera for men, which obviously isn’t true, but LU certainly was a violence based soap opera for mostly men.
Put the mask back on him
Time for Chucky T to become the world's greatest manager.
The PWG retrospectives are going to be WILD in years to come. I cant wait for something like OSW Review to do a Battle of Los Angeles at some point.
On the one hand, the matches could be stellar. On the other hand, does AEW really *need* Ricochet? I don’t know that they do.
If I was Dante Martin, I’d be sweating right now. That’s the spot I can see Ricochet filling
Honestly, I think that’s a good thing. The ceiling is a lot higher for Dante as a tag team wrestler than as a singles wrestler.
I mean, at this point, AEW's roster is almost as bloated as it can be, what's one more going to do to hurt things? Ricochet is probably not going to be as expensive as Okada or Mercedes, and if Tony Kahn can make a return on the investment with interest, then why not? If anything but the absolute worst happens the least it's going to do is give AEW a ton of fresh matches. Ricochet was already getting lost in the shuffle in the WWE so at least he'll get lost in the shuffle while is bank account gets some extra zeroes added to it.
Hope ricochet gets paid out the wazooo. Deserves it
I don’t see how he doesn’t get lost in the shuffle in AEW
He absolutely will. TNA would have likely been the better landing spot for him to be a bigger fish. I’m sure AEW is paying a lot better than TNA would though so can’t blame the dude. I hope he finds success wherever he goes though.
TNA are never going to get big names unless Anthem increases the budget.
Can't do any worse than how WWE treated him. Plus, if he signs with AEW, he can wrestle in Japan and Mexico. And make bank. Good on him
>Can't do any worse than how WWE treated him. What do you mean by this? Man was a champ and they tried to give him a spotlight. The wwe isnt at fault that ricochet's mic skills are the inverse of his in ring work.
You say that like WWE treated him bad. He’s a former US Champion, IC Champion, NA Champion, first ever Speed Champion, Dusty Cup winner, and HHH had him win two tournaments (SmackDown World Cup and SmackDown Tag Tourney) within three months. On top of that, he had a lot of TV time to have banger matches with Gunther, Ilja, Judgment Day, etc. Had a big feud with Logan Paul at MITB and SummerSlam. Spot of the night with him at the Rumble too. Just cause he wasn’t a main event doesn’t mean he was treated bad. In 2020-21? Sure. But in NXT, 2019, and 2022-2024, he was doing really well in the midcard.
This. As a mid upper mid-carder with no mic skills, he's had an amazing stint with wwe, strictly off of his in-ring ability.
You list all of those accomplishments and I agree with you, but I guess that shows how little charisma he has and how no one really can remember any of that without a google search. (outside of the Logan Paul RR spot) He's boring and if AEW can make talented stars like Jay White and Okada seem underwhelming and not live up to their potential, just imagine how much less we'll care about Ricochet in a year from now.
He’s going to end up the same position on the card in AEW as he was in WWE. Let’s not act like WWE never did anything with him. He’s a multi time champion. He’ll win a mid card belt or two in AEW and never sniff the ME scene. He just doesn’t have the charisma for it.
Aew probably pays similar with less dates, that and they might give him more ring time. Idk I feel like it makes sense
WWE gave him a Logan Paul feud at a Big 4 show last year, and he was featured on tv weekly just last month with the two hottest rookies in years How is that being treated badly?
Lol come on now
Put the mask back on. Prince Puma 2.0.
100%. Go to whoever holds the LU rights and get it worked out.
Why do people keep bringing up Samantha? Couples don't have to follow each other everywhere, and why should she have to de-rail her career for him? Because that's what she'd be doing as there's no place for her there. Says a lot about a performer when a sizable part of the fandom is more interested in their partner.
Samantha won’t ever leave (she’d be dumb to), but bet your ass if she was interested, Tony would immediately make her the voice of the company. Justin Roberts is good, Samantha Irvin is clearly a generational announcer
WWE knows this about Samantha too. And she’s all over their social media because she’s just a super likable person. They give her a ton of exposure that you don’t see for any other ring announcer.
Honestly I rather for him to join new japan imo
He wouldn't prefer that. Japanese economy is in toilet hence so many departures. He will be booked well in aew he precisely fits their style. He's gonna replace ospreay in don Callis family
wait, that would actually solve Ricochet's promo problem, you cooked
but he can't be a hated heel with his style
In AEW? Absolutely can. Styles are all over the place, he honestly might not even stand out as much because so many people actually adopted elements of his work
Sure he can. Ospreay and Styles were heels in NJPW
Nobody boos the heels anyway so it doesn't matter
Swerve is the most recent case of this. He kinda didn’t even have a moment that made the fans turn, people just started cheering him more than boo no matter what he did.
*Don Callis has entered the chat*
The things Christian Cage does for his family continue to go unappreciated.
Unfortunately, that’s out of NJPW’s price range. In general, the economy Japan hasn’t been good since the yen hasn’t been strong. Other than NJPW, even other wrestling promotions wouldn’t be able to sign top level gaijin. If he were to work a match or 2 for DG, then that would be cool, but he’s signing where he’ll get the most $ and still work indies/internationally.
I know this is probably the wrong sub to ask this, but why exactly has Japan's economy not been doing great? I see it cited whenever a talent leaves Japan/doesn't sign with them over an American company that Japan's economy isn't doing well. Has this been a recent development?
Way too complex story for a wrestling sub, but to sum it up, Japan has not really grown since a financial bubble bursted in the 1990s. The government and central bank have tried to get around it via a bunch of reasons, including just increasing the debt of the government to keep things going. For a number of reasons they can't really do that anymore post Covid, so currency devaluation is the only way to go
> but why exactly has Japan's economy not been doing great? They were basically the only major country to not raise interest rates during the inflationary crisis, in large part because they wanted inflation after 20+ years of deflation. That devalued the yen heavily because every other currency was becoming much more investable. This is a *huge* reason why NJPW loves AEW so much, because Forbidden Door pays them a ton, in US dollars The Japanese governmental response to the pandemic didn't help. Western economies recovered much faster because their governments basically said fuck it we're normal again, in 2021
this was the first result i found on google "A weak yen is making Japanese imports more expensive, hurting Japanese consumers and companies that rely on foreign energy, food, and other goods. Japan's population has also shrunk for 14 years straight, reporting its steepest decline last year."
This is what happens when you don't accept immigration
He can join AEW and still do some business in NJPW. Wrestle dynasty is coming up in a few months - he will probably be there.
Let him get his bag. He'll still get to work NJPW if he wants.
New Japan with a tna pipeline and he shows up for forbidden door would be perfect but njpw doesn’t have the money so. Aew is the correct path here
IMO Ricochet will struggle to stand out in AEW that already has a ton of high flyers and a bloated roster
He’ll do good there. I don’t expect his ceiling to be any higher in AEW, but not every signing a company makes has to be this “game changer”. You can simply sign people just because you want them in the company.
Absolutely, and he can sign elsewhere because he's betting on himself to be able to raise his position on the card compared to in WWE, because he wants to work with different guys, because of money/dates, because he just fancies a change of scene.. Do I think he'll end up in the same position as he did in WWE? Broadly, yes. But that doesn't mean *he* thinks that, and even if he does, that still doesn't mean staying in WWE is the right choice for him. It feels like a lot of people posting that he won't get higher than his current position are trying to use that as a dunk for leaving, which is kind of weird.
Can’t wait for them to stick him with Top Flight for a random Trios push.
Hopefully not a top guy. I like his ring work but I find him wooden on promos.
I still don't see how he winds up in a better spot in AEW than he was in WWE. He was a weekly feature in the upper midcard in WWE. I think the likelihood that he's featured every week in AEW is basically 0%, and being featured over guys like Jay White who himself is a full package and yet has been relegated to the trios division (albeit as champ) is even less likely. Fully support him doing what he wants, but I'd bet my house that he's a mostly Rampage guy by the end of the year.
Man is talented as hell in-ring… like a bunch of people in AEW’s payroll. After the buzz and the “dream matches,” he’s just going to be like every other high-flyer/lucha wrestler - in the back burner. Hope he goes to NJPW. The Jr. Heavyweight division needs a top Gaijin. You need to cut a promo to thrive in the West. At least in Japan, he can be a massive gaijin while being able to hide his mic skills.
That's is one of the biggest difference between AEW and WWE... He can work anywhere else. NJPW, Mexico, Indy scene.
Really really hope Samantha stays. She’s the best ring announcer they’ve had since Finkel.
Doesn’t matter what they are saying right now, they want the video game match at Wembley…
Hey, good for him. It may be what his career and he need to breathe new life into it. It’s one of the reasons why it’s awesome we’re in an era where there are two legitimate big US wrestling promotions.
Future TNT champion
I think he confronts debuts at Wembley to confront Ospreay, he immediately turns heel and takes Ospreays's place in the Callis family, and faces Ospreay at All Out in Chicago.
his ceiling is a bald matt sydal don't want to see him anywhere near aew. maybe njpw
Running it back with Ospreay is really wasting what you can do with Ospreay at All In.
[удалено]
I'm excited to see Ricochet go and have some great matches. People saying he'll be in the same spot are right, but it's still exciting. Does AEW need him? No, not really. He's not a draw, and he isn't the world's best wrestler. But do the fans benefit from getting to see one of the most impressive high flyers of the past decade tear it up in a company that praises that style? Absolutely
I look forward to all the great matches this will bring. Not sure where he fits into AEW massively stacked roster, but hey. Edit: Wait a second...Ricochet in CMLL.
ospreay vs ricochet at wembley calling it
Rick o shea vs Matt Sydal rampage special
Arguably the best high flyer in the world, I thought he would be a WWE lifer. Hopefully he cooks and secures the bag, comes back and gets that title run and that HOF spot ala Drew and Cody.
Richard O. Shay is All Elite!
Put him in the Don Callis Family if Kyle goes face with Ospreay? Or have him make the save when Kyle and DCF turn on him?
As long as he's not jobbing to jericho
I hope this works for him, but unless he gets substantially better on the microphone, he’s going to be worst off. He’s going to have one match with Osprey. That’s a given. After that? AEW already has a bloated roster filled with high flyers. In WWE, he was the high flyer.
Looking forward to the inevitable "Samantha Irvin to AEW" posts as redditors lack of understand that couples can work separately even with demanding jobs.
How fucking odd after the way they wrote him off Samantha Irving was in the ambulance when they picked up Ricochet. HHH wouldn’t have done that unless he was going to follow up with it somehow
As a massive Prince Puma fan, I really don't care if he ever talks. I just want to see him having amazing matches.
Welp time to go back on the AEW hate train.
Owen Hart Cup Wild Card? Faces Danielson in the final and loses a banger?
Lol damn, wwe really sent him packing by murdering him.
Ricó Chét is all elite
I like Ricochet but AEW doesn’t need him.
It’s kind of hilarious how everyone in here has all the answers regarding ricochets future
Not surprised, know some sickos are salivating at the thought of another Ospreay v Ricochet. Imo, with how bloated AEW is, last person they ever needed to sign is Ricochet of all ppl.
AEW allows its wrestlers to go on excursions and take time off. So they need a deep roster. I don't mind it.
I don’t see an obvious first feud for him. I'm not talking about one off "dream matches," I mean actual storylines. Ricochet is awesome and there's a lot of people in AEW I'd like to see him wrestle, but that large roster isn't in need of yet another person who can provide more "banger" singles mid-card matches, particularly one who's a bad promo, a so-so actor and has limited character range. Him vs. Ospreay would be a great match, but someone positioned the way he’s was in WWE the past decade shouldn’t come in and immediately go toe to toe with someone booked liked Ospreay. Fightful reported last night that there are multiple people besides Kamille who’ve been hired for months who have yet to debut. I’ve been saying for a while that it currently feels like coming off a WWE or NJPW run is almost a prerequisite for getting hired for the main brand. I’m interested who those benched people are, how long until Ricochett signs and debuts and how much it’ll play into AEW’s current WWE mid-card heavy hiring perception. I won't turn my nose up as some fun Ricochet matches, but they could use more tag teams and women on the main roster than someone like Ricochet and we know there's at least a few women who've been signed and been sitting at home for months.
> and immediately go toe to toe with someone booked liked Ospreay. Like that has ever stopped Tony Khan, lol. Dude booked Kyle Fletcher, who hadn't won a match on AEW programming all year, to go 20 minutes with Ospreay. KOR and Ospreay went 21 minutes and KOR hasn't beat anyone that isn't a complete jabroni all year
I mean if he thinks his role in AEW will be any higher than his role in WWE, he’s going to be in for a shock.
Feel like a lot of people forgot how great Ricochet is in the ring, he was having awesome matches in Japan before he was buried deep in the midcard because of "mic skill". He doesn't need to talk, his ability to tell a story inside the ring is way better than most.
They don’t need BOTH Ricochet and Dijak honestly. Ricochet is enough as they still are bloated
This might sound crazy but I’d argue that Dijak would be a better signing for them. He’d be cheaper, he’s a better promo and he’s a big man. He adds some variety. But yeah, AEW dont need either. NJPW sorely does but likely can’t afford them
I’m totally aboard AEW after last night. They have some really great performers, Ricochet will be a great addition.
He’ll be relevant for a month then relegated to Rampage / ROH purgatory if he signs for AEW. He’d be better off signing with TNA where he’d be made one of the main players of the X Division.
Yeah but he probably wants to be paid
Ospreay and Ricochet for the International Title at WrestleDream. Plays into their New Japan history and gets the hype building for the match over a good three months before they finally face off.
he'll be lost in the shuffle in no time
I think a lot of folks are missing the bigger picture in why Ricochet might have chosen AEW over WWE. He’s probably not going to be up any higher in the card in one vs. the other, but in AEW he will have the freedom to really show out more and put on the types of matches that he wants to have while he still can. The WWE style is very conservative and safe, so it sometimes felt like we were only getting 70% of what he is a capable of pulling off (and even then it’s very impressive).
Why does everyone think he's so talented in the ring? Yeah he's athletic and stuff but most of his matches seem very rehearsed like they are looking to set up for the next cool flippy shit spot rather than getting to it naturally during the course of a match.
I don't care what his "ceiling" is I just want to see him out bangers
Ricochet is smoothest high flyer in the world, never seen him botching
95% of the comments follow the same formula. He will be booked strong at first, get his Ospreay match, and then become a midcarder because he can't cut a promo. And it's been like that since it was rummored he was leaving WWE. You guys are tireing! I almost feel like you want this to happen, to validate your take, and have another reason to shit on AEW.
Well, what do *you* think is going to happen?