After spending almost a decade in the WWE system, few people in the professional wrestling landscape know the goings on within the promotion's creative team as Ricochet, who was booked like a star one month and then didn't wrestle on television at all for weeks or even months at a time.

Discussing his experience in the trenches for the promotion and how it compares to what he's seen and experienced in AEW thus far, Ricochet noted just how excited he is for the new opportunity to work for Tony Khan, as his new boss is willing to try new things out if they aren't working, instead of sticking to a plan even if it isn't working.

“When [AEW wrestlers] get an opportunity to portray something to their specific fans, they get to do it the way they think would be best. In WWE, they have a plan,” Ricochet noted via Fightful. “They stick to the plan and get to that plan… good, bad, or ugly. I want to have that freedom for Ricochet to really soar like I know he can. That fire was kindling. It's always been there, that love for professional wrestling. That love for the sport. My gas can was empty. The fire was there but there needed to be some gas thrown on it to ignite it again and really get it started. That's what I wanted. Where would make me feel that most? I know AEW is going to light that fire under me.”

Now, to be fair, WWE isn't nearly as stuck in their ways as in years past, as the entire Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson situation surrounding WrestleMania 40 clearly proves that a mixture of fan outrage and top-guy politicking can produce unique results at the top of the card. Then again, Ricochet was never Rhodes, Reigns, or The Rock, and as a result, his voice surrounding his booking probably never amounted to much in the way of meaningful change.

While WWE did ultimately acquiesce to his preferences in the end, giving him a quality program with Ilya Dragunov and Bron Breakker on his way out the door, in the end, a last-ditch storyline to get a wrestler to re-sign probably isn't what an overall career should be judged by. Ricochet clearly believed he wouldn't be in the WWE Championship picture any time soon if he stayed, and as a result, he took his talents to greener pastures in the pursuit of creative fulfillment.

Ricochet doesn't blame WWE for his inconsistent booking

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Elsewhere in his appearance on The Masked Men Podcast, Ricochet was asked if he holds in will or frustration towards WWE for how his run with the promotion ended. Ever the professional, Ricochet said no, noting that while some fans may have been frustrated with his booking, the only person he blames for his situation is himself, as he had no other control over the situation.

“Honestly, you can place blame anywhere, but I just blame myself. Everyone can blame who they want to blame, everybody can blame anybody, but I just blame myself because that's the only person that I can blame because that's all you can do. Obviously I didn't do something. I don't know what it was. For me, frustrating is maybe not the word because my last couple years, I met my future wife there, I made mad connections. The locker room was always awesome.

“As far as creatively, I mean yeah, there would have been more I would have liked to do just again, mostly for the fans that want to see me do stuff, not even for me, but it's more frustrating for the fans who want to see me go out there and actually do something of some substance. I was out there a lot. I was on television a lot, I was actually used a lot, but the quality of what I was doing specifically wasn't there. It was a lot of quantity of Ricochet, but the quality of what he was getting just wasn't what I wanted, and that's okay. That's just how it falls. I can only blame myself. I can't blame anybody else. I just can't. But it wasn't really frustrating because I had a lot of good times there still. But was there more I wanted to do? Absolutely. But man, I can't say it was frustrating because I still had a good time.”

You know what? Good on Ricochet for putting things into perspective, noting that the biggest frustration from his final act in WWE came more from the fans than the “First in Flight.” Still, despite being one of the more perplexingly booked performers in the WWE Universe, being featured on the poster for RAW despite not actually being on the show most weeks, the decision to move on to AEW becomes more and more understandable with each passing interview, as it's clear WWE and Ricochet did not have the same idea of how to maximize his booking potential and athletic gifts.