While AEW gears up for their biggest show of the year in All In, with Swerve Strickland set to wrestle Bryan Danielson for the World Championship, there's a spector hanging over the entire promotion that could radically change it forever: the expected debut of former WWE Speed Champion Ricochet.
Now granted, Ricochet isn't technically under contract with AEW, and he isn't even “not signed to AEW” like Kamille, who was reportedly signed in February even though she just debuted this week, but the prevailing belief is that the “Highlight of the Night” will land in AEW at some point down the line and as a result, should be mixing it up with all of the promotion's top stars before the end of the year.
And yet, just because Ricochet's eventual debut is highly anticipated by fans of professional wrestling the world over doesn't mean he's going to have a smooth ride back in AEW, as Swerve Strickland wants him to know that only the strong survive on Dynamite, Rampage, and Collision.
“We've had our matches without the masks in MLW. We've had Strickland versus Ricochet before. It's up to him. I don't know, we'll see. Competition's stiff in AEW, and there's also a different type of ladder to climb in a lot of different ways here. It doesn't necessarily make it easier. There's difficulties on both sides of things, and you've gotta adapt,” Swerve Strickland told the Battleground Podcast via Fightful.
“[In] AEW, now more than ever, you gotta be an adaptable performer way more so in AEW nowadays. So if that's true, get ready to put a different type of working boots on. There's a lot of people that don't want to make it easy for anybody. It's already not easy for me in the position that I'm in. I've been in the position of the new guy coming in, and I had to adapt. A lot of people have tried to adapt, and they couldn't do it. That goes to show you the type of locker room, the type of talent, the type of energy, the type of workload that comes into AEW.”
Does Ricochet really have much to worry about in the transition from WWE to AEW? Frankly, no, if anything, Ricochet should feel freed up to work at the heights of his abilities, as he was largely held back by the constraints of WWE's formatting when he was capable of doing so much more athletically and from a storytelling standpoint. Considering his history with Strickland, it's safe to say a rematch with Ricochet should be a priority.
Tony Khan takes a shot at WWE PR for tampering
While the AEW World Champion, Swerve Strickland, is down to throw down with Ricochet at some point down the line, thhe owner of his promotion, Tony Khan, is fighting with another arm of the WWE Universe, their PR department.
Discussing his interactions with the promotion during the Ring of Honor media rights call, Khan explicitly called out WWE PR for passing around wrong information, as, in his opinion, the promotion is looking to make AEW look bad during their media rights negotiations.
“I don't usually do this, but since Brandon brought it up and asked. I had a major member of the wrestling media mention to me yesterday, WWE is telling people that, and I don't know why WWE is telling people about our media rights deal. I don't know whether it's any of their business. I don't really understand why WWE PR calls people and talks about my business,” Tony Khan told reporters via Fightful.
“WWE PR is telling people that the deal is done and that the deal is done at the same level that it was going to be our previous deal. That's not the case. I don't know why WWE PR and why major wrestling media members, who are very credible and never lied to me, I don't know why they are telling people that. It's none of their business. I think WWE PR really gets involved in a lot of things they shouldn't get involved in. I can tell you that is very untrue. When we make a deal for AEW, it's going to be a great deal with a big increase over what we've been doing. We're in a really good position and have been doing great business here despite what they're trying to do to us. Thanks.”
What would WWE PR actually gain by telling reporters that AEW's media rights deal was done? Would it suggest that the company isn't growing? Or would it remove some of the urgency regarding an eventual deal? Either way, if TK has an issue with it, there must be something bigger afoot, as in professional wrestling, everything has a deeper meaning, especially when billions of dollars are potentially on the line.
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