After thoroughly bruising Logan Paul's ego – and face – on the previous edition of RAW via a combination potent tounge lashing/Sliced Bread, the “One and Only” Ricochet was feeling pretty, pretty, pretty good about himself heading into the July 17th edition of WWE's flagship show.
Though he didn't have a match booked for the show, even opting against giving the fans in the house something special when the cameras weren't rolling, the high flyer billed from Las Vegas, Nevada was able to secure a backstage segment with Jackie Redmond on the three-hour broadcast and used his 90 or so seconds to pretty much do what he did the week before: talk some serious trash on the “Maverick” before sending another challenge his way.
“Jackie, he doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand, I mean, he thinks that I am a joke,” Ricochet said. “I mean, obviously he lives in his own little world, so of course, in the social media world, everybody is a joke compared to Logan Paul. But we’re here in Atlanta, Georgia, sold out State Farm Arena. What do you think these people are here for? They’re not here because we post on Instagram; they’re here for the WWE. And in this world, Jackie, Logan’s the joke. And last week, I showed everybody when he said that he wanted a real fight but what happened? He was the one laid out. So, Logan, I’m challenging you: if you want to keep that same energy, how about you meet me next week on Monday Night RAW in Tampa, Florida? Because I’m gonna do what I did last week and hurt you where it really hurts: your ego.”
Alright, so Ricochet is definitely going to be wrestling Paul at SummerSlam, right? Like, sure, there could be some sort of a swerve where the two high-flyers realize that they're more similar than different and decide to pool their proverbial resources to take a shot at Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships but honestly, that dream seemingly died last week when the duo first met in the ring area to air their differences. No, when the WWE Universe descends on Detroit on the first Saturday in August, it's safe to say Paul and Ricochet will be sharing the ring as foes, not friends, especially after the “Maverick” accepted “Prince Puma's” challenge for a Tampa Bay “Meeting of the Minds” on RAW next week almost immediately after it was broached on his Twitter account.
Logan Paul reveals his initial discomfort with working heel in WWE.
Discussing his WWE run so far in a more candid way on his ImPaulsive podcast, setting aside his obvious angle with Ricochet and their spot at Money in the Bank to focus on his actual experience, Logan Paul revealed his initial insecurities about getting booed by crowds, as he took their verbal disapproval personally.
“I'm obviously a heel, and I like it, but I didn't at first,” Logan Paul said via Fightful. “When I first got there, and people started booing me, I really took it personal. I just didn't understand. I was pissed. Bruce Prichard came back, ‘That was amazing. They hate you.' I'm affected by this. Now, I eat it up, and I started to play with the interaction with people in the front row who are booing me. I have to say, the WWE fans have balls. I will get in their face, and they're flipping me off. ‘F**k you.' I'm right here [face-to-face]. I'm sorry, sir, I could end your life where you stand – I obviously won't because it's illegal – the fact that they have no regret and no signs of backing down right in front of my face, they have respect for me. They're a character too. They're having fun. Now, I'm leaning into it. I'm liking it, and they love to hate me.”
While WWE hasn't exclusively worked Paul as a heel, as he did get double-crossed by The Miz after his first-ever match with the promotion, the idea that the “outside social media star” would somehow connect with the common man and become the next Dusty Rhodes is simply foolish; for better or worse, Paul is an entitled social 28-year-old who became popular on social media and does some truly head-scratching things to get attention. He's Matt Cardona in GCW, the NWO in WCW, and the sort of entitled outside who believes fans should be happy he even showed up that is practically grown in a lab to get heel reaction. Though he may not have liked it at first, good on Paul for embracing what it means to be a heel and become an increasingly compelling character as a result.