Ricochet says his five years on the WWE main roster “tarnished” his wrestling legacy, explaining that “the Ricochet that I am now is the same Ricochet that I was on the independent scene and in Japan, doing the things that got me popular and got me to where I am today.” He added that even in NXT they were still doing “specific things.”
He pointed to the moment he was called up to RAW alongside Johnny Gargano, Tommaso Ciampa, and Aleister Black, remembering how at the time it should have been huge since RAW was “the biggest promotion in our industry.” But instead, he compared what happened next to the Marvel films, saying, “Have you seen the Marvel movies? You know when Thanos snaps and there’s that five-year blip where people are just gone?”
Ricochet said plainly, “I literally think that’s how Ricochet’s wrestling career was,” adding, “Those five years were like being blipped away into a different universe. It wasn’t what I was doing. It wasn’t me.”
Coming to AEW helped him rediscover his passion, explaining, “Coming back to AEW and finding that love again,” felt like “Ricochet finally came back to what he was doing,” similar to “when Tony Stark finally defeats Thanos and everyone comes back.”
While acknowledging the positives — “I met my wife there, made friends, made memories, had a crazy platform” — Ricochet stressed that from a wrestling standpoint it hurt his career, stating, “I really think the day we got called up to RAW was the worst thing that happened to Ricochet’s wrestling career.”
He made clear he wasn’t talking about fame or celebrity, saying, “I’m talking specifically about the wrestling side of it — not the fame, not the celebrity,” and concluded that those years “completely changed the public’s image of Ricochet” and that “those five years tarnished Ricochet’s wrestling legacy.”
(Source: The Mark Hoke Show)