For a time, Ricochet was one of the best-kept secrets in WWE.
While he would appear on television first on RAW and then on SmackDown following his elevation from NXT, Ricochet was a much more impressive feature of the house show circuit, where the well-traveled veteran performer would routinely put on incredible matches against the likes of Drew McIntyre, Cesaro, and basically any other main eventer WWE wanted to showcase to fans who paid for a ticket to a non-televised show.
Despite his size, Ricochet can work a compelling match as either an underdog babyface or a cocky heel with a list of aerial tricks a mile long, and WWE used this to their advantage to consistently give fans something to talk about and a match they would never forget, even if some members of the creative team never translated that push to television. No, outside of a run with the United States Championship in 2019 that lasted all of three weeks, Rocochet's main roster run before March of 2022 was largely that of a lower mid-carder who could be used in tag teams, used as a solo performer, but rarely used as a noticeable performer worthy of a strong push or championship consideration.
After winning 89 percent of his matches in 2018 and a respectable 70.3 percent of his matches in 2019, Ricochet has been hovering right around the .500 mark, with 87 wins versus 180 matches for a record of 48.3 percent.
Fortunately, things are starting to look up for the man once known as Prince Puma in Lucha Underground, as the WWE Universe has been experiencing a bit of a “Ricochet Renaissance” since the calendar turned from 2021 to 2022.
It all started in March, when the high-flying phenom took the strap off of Sami Zayn on an episode of SmackDown. Though few thought much of the move at the time, as “The Honorary Uce's” reign lasted just three weeks, Ricochet took the opportunity and ran with it, successfully defending the belt four times and holding it for 98 days, according to Cagematch.
Sure, Ricochet eventually lost the strap to Gunther, lost to Gunther a few more times on television and the house show circuit too, and hasn't come close to a new belt since, but even without gold around his waist, “The One And Only” has remained a fixture of SmackDown ever since, taking on the likes of Happy Corbin, wrestling with Madcap Moss against Zayn and Solo Sikoa, and just generally being around as a regular.
Goodness, Ricochet even went back down to NXT to wrestle Carmelo Hayes at Worlds Collide in a match that has already become criminally underrated. After having to fight for everything under the previous administration, Ricochet is enjoying a ton of success under the watchful eye of Paul “Triple H” Levesque, as he detailed to Steve Fall of NBC Sports Boston on his Ten Count podcast.
Ricochet is happy with the new direction of WWE under Triple H.
When asked by Fall about how things are going under Triple H, Ricochet applauded the company's new creative direction, especially the decision to make the company's championship belts feel special again, as transcribed by Fightful.
“I think the presentation of championships have always been important to me. [From 1992-1999], it was all about the championships, you know what I mean?” Ricochet asked Fall. “I think there will probably be more light on those, which will help viewers watch it a little better and understand [better]. It’s gonna be a great product that’s gonna be put out there, I think. Everyone’s in a new creative spirit and trying to think of new things, so it’s crazy to see everyone talk and think about new things. Maybe it’s just because everything is new and everything is changing, but I think the presentation is still gonna be WWE spectacle, this spectacular presentation, but I think it’s really gonna put some more focus on the championships and being a championship-driven like story. Whatever the stories are, we’ll lean more towards that rather than the cartoony character aspect of it.”
In that regard, Ricochet is 100 percent correct; for one reason or another, Vince McMahon really stopped caring about the Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship in his final years with the company, instead locking his focus on Roman Reigns and the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Even if it won't happen overnight, Levesque has already run impressive video packages hyping up each belt and has booked both of his current title holders, Bobby Lashley and Gunther, with the utmost respect. If WWE is going to go all-in on making their in-ring hardware “means something,” as Ricochet would like to see, the real winner will be the fans at home.
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