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When Ricochet made his not-so-surprising debut at AEW All In, showing off much of his best stuff in an incredible showing in the Casino Gauntlet match, it immediately garnered massive reactions from fans across the professional wrestling world, including indie fans excited to have the “Highlight of the Night” back in the trenches, to WWE fans who were bitter to see a premier athletic talent go to a company where his abilities will be properly appreciated.
But what do the WWE old heads think on the matter? Do the Hall of Famers Ricochet grew up watching think he made the right decision, trading occasional bookings on the top company in the business to a work-rate role with 1B where he can once again prove he's still one of the best high-fliers in the world? Well, Booker T decided to do just that on his Hall of Fame podcast, and needless to say, he's all for the “First in Flight,” making his money and bolstering his legacy with some of the best matches of his career.
“I'm glad to see Ricochet have a soft landing. The kid can work, man. He's definitely an extraordinary talent, definitely a next-level talent. I just feel like he fits a whole lot better in the AEW system better than the WWE system. But he got a chance to do the WWE thing, and that's one thing a lot of guys wonder about that haven't gotten to do the WWE thing. The WrestleMania week and all that stuff. He's gotten the chance to experience that kind of stuff several times, so for him to actually move to the next level, it's not as hard at all, because now, for him, it's all about getting paid, going out, and having some good matches, and hopefully a stellar career at the end of the day.
“I think for Ricochet to be able to have some of the outrageous matches that he possibly can have, that means going out there and just letting it hang out. That means you ask the boss, ‘What do you want me to do tonight?' and the boss says, ‘Whatever you guys want to do.' That's what he's got now. So it's gonna be an unlimited amount of stuff you can see from Ricochet now that you couldn't see before.”
Will Ricochet be able to get where he wants to be in AEW, proving he's a performer not only capable of putting on 5-star matches but also adding a few more to his resume for good measure? Sure thing, considering Ricochet only has two five-star matches on his resume period from his time in the WWE Universe, it's safe to say Dave Meltzer could double that number before the end of August if he crushes his television debut against Kyle Fletcher on Dynamite. All in all, Booker is on the money; this move really has no downside for Ricochet.
Darby Allin wants to get in on the action with Ricochet too
Speaking of wrestlers who would like to get their hands on the “One and Only” as a member of AEW, Ricochet's name came up in Darby Allin's recent interview with Metro UK's Alistair McGeorge, and despite their rather nebulous history, the former TNT Champion would still like to mix it up with WWE's first Speed Champion, assuming he wants to wrestle for the right reasons.
“I'd like to wrestle with anybody that has a point to prove. So, yeah, if he has a point to prove, he's got that chip on his shoulder, let's do it. I don't want to wrestle anybody that has this ego, and they're just gonna phone it in today. That's when I get pissed off. You know, people that are just so ungrateful. I want to wrestle people that are grateful, and I want to wrestle people that have a chip on their shoulder,” Allin told Metro UK.
“Don't come in here and expect that this is, like – take the night off and phone them in. Because I don't think any of those – I don't think he would ever do that. That's not in his DNA to do that. But you know, other people that try to come here and treat it like summer vacation, like, get the f**k outta here!
“I don't want to wrestle those people. I'm not going to put my life on the line for those people. But if people are actually like, I have a point to prove, I know what I'm capable of. I can see what AEW has given me, you know what I mean? I've had this chip on my shoulder, I've always had a chip on my shoulder, I think I always will, but it's a healthy chip on my shoulder.”
Based on Ricochet's performance at Wembley Stadium, it's safe to say the only phoning it in he's been doing was as a member of WWE, where he wasn't allowed to do nearly as many fun spots as he would have probably liked while routinely tasked with playing the underdog babyface who only won 63.3 percent of his matches with the promotion. If given a chance to do, as Booker T put it, “whatever you guys want to do” by Tony Khan, it's safe to say Ricochet and Allin would tear the roof off of just about any arena in the world today.
