RADICAN’S TAKE – Ricochet betting on himself after leaving WWE already paying dividends in AEW and NJPW

“Cody (Rhodes) said something one time that resonated with me. He said it’s not because i think i’m someone, it’s because I want to be someone. I think that’s what he said. We don’t wear the suits because we think we’re the man. We want to be the man. We want to be that guy.

-Ricochet discussing why he wears a suit on Insight with Chris Van Vliet

Zack Sabre Jr. had just successfully defended the IWGP World Hvt. Championship at Power Struggle and it seemed like the show was over after Shota Umino confronted him and challenged him to a match anytime and anyplace. It felt like the Wrestle Kingdom 19 main event on Jan.4 had been set and the show was over, but it wasn’t

Ricochet appeared behind Sabre dressed sharply in a suit. He looked like a star and was making his return to Japan for the first time in six years. He challenged Sabre to a match at Wrestle Dynasty on Jan. 5 for the IWGP World Hvt. Championship. The fans reacted to Ricochet like he was a star. He was about to hit Sabre again when Umino made the save.

Ricochet did better than I thought he would in WWE. He was always on TV and always featured in programs, but the programs he was in usually served to elevate others. Ricochet could never break out of the second tier during his time in WWE.

Ricochet was famous for his high flying, but talking to those that worked closely with him during his time in Japan and on the independents before heading to WWE, I was told he had a great mind for putting matches together and stringing together sequences and exchanges with his opponents that energized crowds across the globe.

Ricochet was certainly known for his high-flying in WWE, but he never got a chance to show he could do more than that. I had interviewed Ricochet during his time on the independents, but after watching how he carried himself in his return to NJPW and listening to him speak on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, it is clear that he is ready to be a star now.

During his interview with Van Vliet, Ricochet talked about how he was never the focus of the stories he was in in WWE and the opportunity to go to AEW excited him because he felt it would ignite the spark within him again. Another decision that made it easy to go to AEW that Ricochet mentioned in the interview was the ability to work with friends from the past.

At Wrestle Dream, Ricochet was part of one of the most incredible triple matches I’ve seen when he faced AEW International Champion Will Ospreay and Konosuke Takeshita. Takeshita won the match and Ricochet has since branched off to a feud with Takeshita that is also part of a larger feud between the Don Callis Family and Ricochet, Ospreay, Powerhouse Hobbes and Mark Davis.

Ricochet has been booked strongly on AEW programming since his debut at All In in August. He recently picked up a clean victory over Takeshita in a tag match that should lead directly to him challenging for the AEW International Championship in the near future.

Despite Ricochet’s strong performance in AEW, I was most intrigued by what I saw out of his simplistic presentation in NJPW. He was dressed sharply, he spoke confidently on the mic, and he set himself up for a shot at the NJPW World Hvt. Championship at the Wrestle Dynasty show that will be co-promoted by AEW, NJPW, Stardom, CMLL, and Ring of Honor.

I’m excited to see how Ricochet handles his upcoming opportunities in AEW and NJPW. He will likely challenge Takeshita in a big match in the near future in AEW. The most intriguing opportunity for him on the horizon is a match against Zack Sabre Jr. in The Tokyo Dome on Jan. 5. If Sabre beats Umino at Wrestle Kingdom 19 on Jan. 4, Ricochet will wrestle for the IWGP World Hvt. Championship.

Ricochet bet on himself to do bigger and better things by leaving WWE and signing with AEW. He wasn’t motivated by money, but instead he was motivated by the opportunity to become something bigger than he was in WWE and the opportunity to work with old friends. It appears that he is on the fast track to becoming a main event star in AEW and wrestling big matches in NJPW will only help build his stock moving forward.

Contact Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com.

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