If you have been watching AEW star Ricochet recently, you'll notice an edgier heel character than he ever got to play during his WWE tenure.
This snively heel persona has breathed new life into him. Speaking from experience, it was hard to get behind a character that, in hindsight, was completely held back in WWE.
Speaking to ClutchPoints the week before AEW's All Out PLE in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Ricochet emphasized that he isn't doing anything differently, per se. Rather, he is leaning into what got him popular on the indies before his WWE run.
“Honestly, I think the only real difference is—I don't wanna say carte blanche to do whatever I want—but I have the opportunity to say what I want to say, express what I want to say, how I want to say it, how I feel Ricochet will say it in that moment,” he explained. “I get to sit back and go through the emotions of Ricochet's character and see how he's feeling through all these things that are happening to him.”
Plus, it helps that AEW president Tony Khan has given Ricochet the green light to be creative. While he is given some direction and a big picture idea of where the storyline is going, it's a collaborative effort, which is more than what can be said in other cases.
“The difference is that I've gotten to just let loose,” Ricochet acknowledged.
Still, this is the same Ricochet as always. The character he is playing now is close to the character he played on the indies. Going back to his roots allows him to yell at fans and have fun doing it.
Using social media as a tool
A key part of Ricochet's character is his usage of social media. The AEW wrestler frequently roasts other wrestlers and even mentions other companies like WWE. WWE's Drew McIntyre has similarly been social media savvy, and it has propelled both of them to new heights.
The nice thing is that Ricochet's X, formerly Twitter, usage is “all” him.
“Anything [on] Twitter is all me; it has nothing to do with Tony or AEW making me say something or take something down,” Ricochet confessed.
Why does he do it? Well, he enjoys trolling wrestling fans. “Sometimes, I'm just on a flight for six hours and I'm bored,” he said with a smirk. “Maybe that's my own downfall, but I think it's awesome.”
For Ricochet, his social media allows him to blur the lines, something he thinks was always an integral part of the business. These days, some companies are comfortable pulling the curtain completely back. “I feel there's more lines than ever to [blur],” Ricochet said, “and there's more lines now that you have to tiptoe across. Now, we're just taking an eraser and [erasing] all the lines and seeing what happens.”
Dealing with social media trolls
Sometimes, he is able to bait fans into engaging in debates in the comment sections of his posts. This “absolutely” amuses him, but not in a cynical way.
“We're all just passionate,” explained the AEW wrestler. “I think that goes to a certain point, too— everyone should be open [to] criticism. Everyone should be open to having a new set of eyes looking at it and giving you advice. But I think that gets to a point where people are no longer just giving critiques; they're talking trash. It's literally just trash talk. And then when you say, ‘Shut up,' they're like, ‘Oh, you can't take criticism.' It's like, No. You're not trying to criticize for the better.”
Instead, they use “buzzwords” trying to get attention, at least in his mind. There are good-intentioned fans out there, but most do not have those intentions.
So, using the protection of social media allows Ricochet to express how he really feels and fire back at trolls.
Making the most of your opportunities
In wrestling, the door to make an impression is only open for so long. There is a finite number of minutes allocated to each wrestling show, whether it be WWE's Monday Night RAW or AEW's Dynamite.
Ricochet knows that better than anyone, as someone who's been around the block a few times. For him, he's a human highlight reel, from leaping off ladders to going through cars.
Someone like Karrion Kross is able to break through the glass ceiling. Towards the end of his WWE run, Kross was given limited minutes during episodes of RAW, but he still garnered the loudest pop of the night.
This is something even Ricochet paid attention to. “I think Kross is a good example of someone [who] didn't have a lot of time on television, but when he was on, he got so much out of it,” praised Ricochet.
Speaking about his time in WWE, Ricochet knows he didn't get nearly as many important storylines as he gets in AEW. Even if he wasn't a focal point of the company, he set out to leave an impression on fans.
It paid off, as he remembers always getting a “huge reaction” from crowds, regardless of the outcome of his match. Why? “Because they knew they were gonna get something that they were gonna remember,” he said confidently.
At this point, Ricochet doesn't even wrestle every week, and yet, he still gets “great reactions” during a promo. His character allows him to step back from being a workhorse in the ring, giving him a chance to develop his character and storylines through promos and other means.
How do wrestlers take advantage of these spots?
There are several ways to maximize your screen time. “It could be a comedy act, it could be your promo, it could be your emotional, it could be literally anything that connects you with the audience,” he stated. “If you look at wrestling all over the world, everybody's roster is so deep; everyone's got the best wrestlers in the world. There's only a certain amount of time on television, so it's hard to get everybody on television. But when you do get that time, you've gotta make the most of it.”
Ultimately, it comes down to connecting with the crowd. Ricochet knows it's easier said than done, and he has done a better job with it in AEW than WWE.
Ricochet stood in line in WWE
In past interviews, Ricochet has discussed being a good soldier while in WWE. As he said during our chat, he didn't always get the most screen time. However, he always made the most of his matches, even when he lost more often than he won.
Having “good soldiers” who do their jobs without stepping out of line is a necessity. “Every company has to have some good soldiers,” Ricochet conceded. However, “there is someone in every company who is too good to be [a] good soldier.”
From there, you have to decide the order of your priorities. You have to weigh the pros and cons of staying or leaving. While there's “nothing wrong” with being a good soldier, wrestling is a bloated industry. As Ricochet pointed out, every company's roster is deep. So, there's a chance you could get “stuck in the back” of some companies.
In AEW, you can have your cake and eat it, too. Being a “good soldier” can be met with rewards.
As Ricochet explained, “A thing I like about AEW is that you [can] be a good soldier and then you'd be on a random [episode of] Collision, and then you knock it out of the park with somebody, whether it's a tag [team] or trios or singles match, and then it's like, Oh, let's put them on Dynamite.”
AEW puts drama and story first. If you're able to conjure those emotions or craft good stories, Khan will reward you. Even if you don't hit a home run with your match, you won't get stuffed down the card, per se. Judging by what Ricochet said, Khan will find a place for everyone's talents.
“You could be opening [the show with a] Ring of Honor match and not tear the house down, and Tony or someone's gonna see that and be like, We need that guy on Collision, or, We need that guy on Dynamite, or, We need that guy with this group, you know what I'm saying?”
Does Ricochet mind not wrestling all the time in AEW?
As he said earlier, Ricochet is at a point where he isn't required to wrestle on a weekly basis. You may think a wrestler would want to wrestle every show, but that's not always the case.
Ricochet has been in the business for over two decades. As he likes to point out, “I've been doing this for longer than Nick Wayne's been alive,” he joked.
He is a locker room leader, and he's always working, even if it's not with his shirt off in the ring. “For me, if I'm doing something — character building, story building — that's not wrestling, I'm 100% okay with that,” he said. “If for some reason I'm not on a pay-per-view because we [have] got a deep roster, that's okay.”
Having over 20 years' worth of tape helps his case. You've seen him flip across the ring and do crazy stunts. Now, he can put more attention to the finer details of his character work.
Make no mistake; Ricochet still wants to wow AEW fans. However, they are “a little bit different” than something you'd see from Ricochet in 2010 or 2014. “I always want to try to do something cool and spectacular,” he began, “but now I want people to [find something] they can get behind in the match.”
With the flip of a switch, Ricochet disappeared in character. When talking about eliciting emotional responses from the crowd, he almost said he wanted people to cheer for his spots. However, he takes it back.
“Don't cheer me,” he warned fans. “Y'all don't deserve to cheer for me. Y'all haven't done anything for me to accept your cheers because you guys have obviously been bullying me.”
His All Out match
At All Out, Ricochet will team with GOA (Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona) to face the Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley, Shelton Benjamin, and MVP). Ricochet blames MVP for getting him into this mess.
“We're about to take care of these guys at All Out: Toronto,” Ricochet proudly declared. “They've been cooking up a storm for a minute now. I blame MVP for this, to be honest with you, because [he] should've seen this coming. He's the mastermind, and he's the one [who] told me how to conduct business. He's the one [who] gave me the card; he invited me, [and] the moment I feel I'm finally able to do it, they try to embarrass me, and they think I'm just gonna let that go? No.”
Seeing GOA take on the Hurt Syndicate gave him faith in their ability to beat them. Everything he has done in his career led him to this point, and Ricochet is ready to put the Hurt Syndicate in the rear-view mirror.
Does Ricochet have special ring gear for AEW All Out?
Ricochet has had some of the coolest ring gears. He has paid homage to Nightwing and Itachi, to name a couple, with past gears, and he has something cooking for All Out.
“It's not crazy, but we have a little something planned that I think is cool,” Ricochet revealed. “Again, it's not crazy, but it's something that I think is gonna be really cool for our group.”
Ring gear is important to Ricochet. He frequently works with Daven Poe, a graphic designer, to create them. Give him an idea, and Poe will make something cool. “He really is a genius,” praised Ricochet.
Main Event Gear then makes the idea a reality. Ricochet and Poe's ideas are then brought to life by Main Event Gear. As far as he remembers, Main Event Gear has “been making my gear since 2011 or so.”
He has a small trust tree for his ring gear. Ricochet gets the ball rolling with ideas that he passes along to Poe. From there, Poe nails down a design that's sent to Main Event Gear to produce.
What's next for Ricochet?
Currently, the Hurt Syndicate is all that's on Ricochet's mind as he heads into AEW All Out. At 36 years old and with over 20 years of experience, he's always looking ahead.
We spent time chatting about his evolution from the indies to AEW. When we spoke, he was fresh out of a workout, which he recently changed up.
Recently, he has placed more emphasis on “isometric holds, athletic-style explosion workouts,” which include explosion side lunges sans a band. He still adds weight, but he already has muscle. It's all about preservation. “I've already got the muscle, so now I've gotta work on everything else,” said Ricochet.
Given his athleticism, it's natural to wonder if his routine has changed over the years as he ages and about its impact on his high-flying move set.
“Absolutely,” he said about his training changing. “I think it plays into more [I'm] getting older than it does changing [my] move set. Training like this will help me when I get older.”
Right now, it's about preventing injuries. His routine will help prevent “muscle pains and things like that.” Even still, while his move set has evolved over the years, he is eager to prove that age is just a number.
“I'm still doing a 450 [splashes],” Ricochet points out. “I did a 630 [Senton] off the top rope, through a table onto Darby Allin, you know what I'm saying?”
Ricochet is an “anomaly,” by his own assessment. For as strong a proclamation as that is, he may be right. In WWE, he was an afterthought; he was the guy to be pinned by the guy. In AEW, Ricochet is the guy.
AEW All Out: Toronto will air at 3 pm EST.
