Ricochet: The Five Years On The WWE Main Roster Tarnished Ricochet’s Wrestling Legacy

Ricochet explains how his main roster run tarnished his legacy.

In early 2019, WWE was looking to inject new blood into the main roster by bringing four of NXT’s top stars to Raw and SmackDown.

Ricochet, Aleister Black, Johnny Gargano, and Tommaso Ciampa were moved to the main roster, with the announcement coming via a graphic. Ricochet would remain on the main roster until leaving the company in 2024.

On social media, Ricochet replied to a video of him vs. AJ Styles from their time in WWE by saying, “That’s not me. That was a watered down, different universe version of me. Two completely different people.”

Speaking to Mark Hoke on the Mark Hoke Show, Ricochet expanded on what he meant.

“The Ricochet that I am now is the same Ricochet that I was on the independent scene and New Japan, and doing the things that got me popular to where I am today. When I was part of NXT, I was doing specific things. There was an image that got posted, it was me, Johnny, Tommaso, and Aleister. All four of us, ‘Coming to Raw.’ What should be the biggest promotion in our industry, turned out, specifically for Ricochet’s story, at that time, Thanos snap and there was a five-year blip. That’s how I put Ricochet’s wrestling career. Those five years were like being blipped away to a different universe. It just wasn’t me. Coming back to AEW and finding that love was like when Tony Stark finally defeated Thanos and all the people came back. Ricochet finally came back to what he was doing. I already know how this is going to sound and how people will take this, but the day we got called to Raw was the worst thing that happened to Ricochet’s wrestling career. Despite meeting my wife there, making friends, making memories, having a crazy platform, all the positive stuff, specifically for Ricochet’s wrestling career, that’s where it got blipped. What I was doing and the trajectory I was on, compared to the trajectory that I got for those five years, and how it completely changed the public’s image for Ricochet and who Ricochet was. I really think those five years, specifically the wrestling side of it, that five years really tarnished Ricochet’s wrestling legacy,” he said.

He noted that the Ricochet in WWE was like a different person playing the same Marvel character, just in a different universe.

Ricochet is the reigning AEW National Champion. He will defend the title against Jack Perry on Wednesday.

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