Just before All Elite Wrestling is set for its pay-per-view, All In at Wembley Stadium, a report surfaced that the former WWE star, Ricochet has inked a multi-year deal with the company, with speculation that he will make a surprise debut during the event in London. He was last seen on Raw at the end of June when he was attacked by Bron Breakker to be written out of television.
During an edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez mentioned that the word is that former WWE Intercontinental champion is expected to make his debut with the organization during the PPV.
The aerial star began wrestling when he was still a teenager and over the course of two decades, has worked for more or less every major organization in the industry. He competed for numerous indies, had a stellar run in New Japan, and worked under a mask in Lucha Underground. He eventually signed a WWE developmental deal in 2018 and spent more than six years under contract. Despite several title runs, including the IC and US belts at various points over his WWE tenure, it still seemed like management never really knew exactly what to do with him, as the start and stop pushes that he received never allowed him to generate enough momentum to truly be elevated in terms of getting to the next level as a star.
Don’t get me wrong, his athletic ability is incredible, but the office didn’t commit enough time and enough of a promotional push at any specific point to truly move him up the card. Regardless of how many titles he held, he was still positioned as the entertaining high-flyers that would often be used to make others look good instead of booked in a way to boost his own stock. Each time management put the brakes on an individual push, it almost reinforced to the audience that Ricochet was a mid-card guy. Furthermore, when he was paired with Braun Strowman for a tag team stint, it was another way for him to play second fiddle in some respects, he wasn’t the star, he was the sidekick to the star. Some of the attempts to repackage him for a broader audience were too ham-handed to have any realistic chance to be successful, such as when he was put in a super hero type bodysuit. It just looked rather silly compared to his usual high-flyer presentation.
The reason why Ricochet didn’t get a chance to work the upper portion of the card might be as simple as the fact that he didn’t have the prototypical size that the company looks for, especially during the Vince McMahon era, but regardless of the reason, he was still branded as a mid-card talent with a ceiling in WWE.
That being said, the office knows the value that he has as an athlete, particularly as a utility worker as far as being an asset to the company. Keep in mind, Ricochet allowed his contract to expire and opted not to re-sign with WWE, he wasn’t released. He probably could’ve signed a new deal and continued to make good in the WWE, but again, he was stalled in terms of his progress in the organization.
Obviously, it’s not too difficult to guess that he probably will land in All Elite Wrestling since that’s where the best money outside of WWE can be made, and in some cases, even more money can be offered if Tony Khan wants to keep someone away from the WWE. If Ricochet can get more money from Tony than he can from TKO, he should take it because making as much cash as possible is the entire point of the business. For a performer of his caliber, anything other than the two major groups would be a step down. He still has prime years of his career left so TNA or MLW are too small of a scale for what he can bring to the table, which is enough skill to be on the biggest stage possible. New Japan could use the star power, and his history there would allow him to be perceived as a major star, but again the business is about making the most money possible, and as we’ve seen during the past few years that the Japanese league can’t compete with the money offered from AEW or WWE.
Still, if Ricochet debuts tomorrow in the stadium, will he have a successful run in All Elite Wrestling?
All things considered, outside of one exception, there’s nothing that makes me think that Ricochet won’t end up in the same spot as almost every new acquisition for the company. He will get the artificial debut pop, he will be featured on television for a few weeks, and then he will get lost in the shuffle with occasional matches on Rampage that only a fraction of the AEW audience watches on TNT. I’m not trying to be overly negative, and considering how truly talented Ricochet is, I’d rather say that he will get a chance to shine to his fullest potential, but I don’t see that being the case for him, based on the countless names that end up in the witness protection program because they are rarely showcased on AEW programming. I will ask again, has anyone seen Ricky Starks?
While it’s a safe bet that Ricochet will show up at All In, I expect his run in the organization to be something similar to that of Miro or Andrade, someone that you’d expect to flourish outside of the WWE, but for whatever reason it doesn’t happen. Is Miro still under contract?
The one caveat of all of this is that it will be an opportunity for Will Ospreay and Ricochet to work another series of matches. The two had a spectacular bout in New Japan several years ago that many pundits and critics took notice of at the time, and it was one of the matches that garnered Ospreay more notoriety. Granted, the reason for this will probably be nothing more than the fact that Tony Khan wants to recreate something from New Japan in an AEW ring, which is why he booked the Continental Classic to mimic the G1 tournament last year, but the bottom line is, it will be an opportunity for American fans to get to see Ospreay and Ricochet deliver a dazzling spot fest on pay-per-view. The match-up would be tremendous and give the fans their money’s worth, but similar to almost everything else in AEW, it will be a coincidence since it was something that Tony wanted to see rather than the business that could be done, which is why there would be no or minimal follow-up, as it wouldn’t be a part of a long-term booking plan so then Ricochet will be just another guy on the roster.
So, yes, Ricochet will probably make his All Elite Wrestling debut in London tomorrow, but it’s possible that even that might be lost in the shuffle of an overbooked four-hour pay-per-view with a slew of gimmick matches. As I said, if not the WWE, Ricochet will work for All Elite, and at 35, he still has prime years left in his career so it makes sense that he doesn’t want to continue to flounder without a solid direction under the TKO banner, but unfortunately, Tony Khan’s track record of booking new signings doesn’t suggest that Ricochet will automatically be in a better spot in AEW.
What do you think? Share your thoughts, opinions, feedback, and anything else that was raised on Twitter @PWMania and Facebook.com/PWMania.
Until next week
-Jim LaMotta
E mail [email protected] | You can follow me on Instagram, Facebook, & Threads @jimlamotta89
