Ricochet signed a contract with WWE in 2018 but already seems to be on the way down

Signing a WWE contract for Ricochet must have meant the world to him in 2018.

The 31-year-old was the hottest star on the independent circuit and many top promotions were clambering for his signature.

WWE beat everyone to that and brought him to the Performance Centre in 2018. The 31-year-old progressed rapidly and made his NXT TV debut at TakeOver: New Orleans where he impressed in a ladder match for the NXT North American title.

His greatest showing was the feud against Velveteen Dream and things only looked to be getting better for him.

Ricochet was brought into the main roster in 2019 and won on his debut on Raw. He teamed up with Finn Balor to win that clash but his career has been full ups and downs in WWE.

One step forward and two steps back

The 31-year-old won the US title by beating Samoa Joe but lost it in 21 days to AJ Styles. He failed to regain the title at SummerSlam but became the No.1 contender for Brock Lesnar’s WWE championship ahead of Super Showdown.

He actually beat top stars such as Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley to become the No.1 contender but was squashed, massively by Lesnar in Saudi Arabia.

Things turned worse for him a few days later as he was defeated easily by Riddick Moss for the 24/7 championship.

Some reports have suggested that Vince McMahon isn’t all too thrilled with Ricochet and is willing to ‘bury’ him.

That is some drop for the 31-year-old as he is one of the best wrestlers on the roster. However, WWE have, as usual, failed to get the best out of him.

Putting him in a tag team wasn’t the right call and there was no need to squash him against Lesnar in Saudi Arabia.

Sliding down the pecking order is never great and with Vince on your back, things could be tough too.

So the big question is should Ricochet think about leaving WWE?

AEW calling?

With the rise of AEW and some top WWE stars joining Tony Khan’s promotion, all signs would suggest that Ricochet should join them if he were to leave WWE.

Jon Moxley is testament to a singles competitor getting his rewards after joining AEW, but he was a top star in WWE before making the switch and letting his contract run out.

That is another problem for Ricochet as he has only been with the WWE for two years and there will be some rider which prevents him from working if he breaks his deal with the organisation.

Moving to AEW isn’t a hit either and he could end up being a mid-carder, again. Paul Heyman is the creative force on Raw now, and maybe taking Ricochet off for a couple of weeks is the right move.

A couple of interesting things have happened in WWE recently. Finn Balor was sent back to NXT and has done well. Charlotte Flair will fight NXT women’s champion Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania after she won the Royal Rumble.

Going back to NXT would have been the end of a career in normal circumstances, but it seems the Black and Yellow brand is to rival Raw and SmackDown.

WWE has been able to repackage several stars in the past successfully and they could do that with Ricochet.

He could spend another year with them just to see how things play out. If he still remains on the mid-card, a move away would make a lot of sense.

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