AEW’s Ricochet Reveals Reasons Behind WWE Departure

WWE/AEW

Ricochet left WWE on June 30, 2024, and would make his AEW debut on August 25 in the All In Casino Gauntlet match in London, England.

It was also revealed that he had informed WWE of his intention to leave the company ahead of his contract expiring.

During an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Ricochet shared insight into his decision to leave WWE.

Asked about the timeline between leaving WWE and his move to AEW, Ricochet noted that his last match was on Speed against Andrade with his last appearance being written off television by Bron Breakker on June 10 with his AEW debut taking place on August 25.

Speaking about being written off television in June, Ricochet stated:

“I think they kind of left it open-ended for a reason, nobody really knew at that point what was going to happen. I think they were trying to leave it a little open-ended. I think we were still talking. So I think that’s why they kind of did it the way they did it, especially because Ricochet, he could have come right back in a couple of weeks. But no, it just didn’t go that way. Then I went this way and I’m really happy with everything that’s happened so far and, yeah, It’s been great.”

Asked whether he knew he was done with WWE at that point, Ricochet would reveal:

“Not even necessarily, no. So I knew my contract was ending in June, mid-June, give or take. But all the way up to that point there was never a point where I knew I was leaving. I think it was just again, there was a point three and a half years ago into my WWE career where I just said this isn’t what I want to do, but I’m just going to do whatever’s asked of me, whatever they need me to do, whatever they want me to do, whoever they need me to lose to, or whatever move they need to make look cool, or whatever. I’m just going to do it because I’m here and I want to put in the work and show that I’m willing to do what they need me to do to get other opportunities.

“I feel like if they did give me a bone here or there, and I was always on television. I was always showcased on television. So that was always nice. But I felt like it was always for Shinsuke, for Sami, for Sheamus, for someone else. It was never Ricochet’s story. Even with Logan, it was for Logan. They gave me little bits and pieces, but it was really for Logan to move on to something else.

“After a while, it’s just like, Ah, man, and again, anything can happen at any turn of the road. It could have been the next week they could have been like now we’re doing this. So that’s always a chance, but at the end of the day, I think I was really just trying to find out where I was going to be the happiest.”

Ricochet would go on to explain that, as a kid, he grew up loving WWE and never expected to be in the company, noting that the “landscape kind of changed” to bring him there.

He would also reveal the factors in his decision to leave WWE for AEW, stating:

“I got to thinking, Okay, what will I be doing? Where will I be in three years? And after that, where will I be? And again, anything can happen. You don’t know the circumstances, but you just kind of have to play from your experiences. Because again, especially in the wrestling industry, everybody has a different experience. Just from my personal experiences and what I feel like Ricochet has been put through, I don’t know, I felt like I had already not paid my dues or whatever, but I felt like I was able to be on the next level of performers there, I guess.

“But I still feel like I was starting over again. I felt like I was starting over with the Bron Breakkers and the Iljas and the Carmelos and the new guys just coming in. I feel like Ricochet was with those guys coming back in, it’s like, man I’ve already been here for five or six years, I want to be doing something else.”

Reflecting on his decision to do “something else” and what AEW offers him, Ricochet went on to say:

“Again, at the end of the day, I wasn’t going to go to the highest bidder, I was just going to go to whoever was going to make me feel good and ignite that spark again, because I felt like that fire that was burning inside of me was still there, but it was just like little embers that needed that gasoline on it to really make it ignite.

“At the time, I felt like AEW could be the gasoline for my fire. Since being there, I feel like I made the right choice. Just even getting to be in there with the guys that I’ve been in there with Lio and AR Fox and even Nick Wayne, someone I’ve never been in there with, Sammy Guevara, Mortos, people I’ve never worked with that I’ve been excited with, but also people like AR Fox and Lio, who I’ve worked with before years ago, now we’re both different performers.

“So I really think that had a lot to do with it. But there was no specific moment where something happened and I just flipped the switch and that’s where I’m going. I just think it’s what felt right. Even when I find myself walking around the bowl and looking, I know I made the right decision.”

The AEW star recently made a return to NJPW after seven years ago and issued a challenge to Zack Sabre Jr for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

That match will take place at Wrestle Dynasty on January 5, 2025, at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.

Transcript from chrisvanvliet.com.

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