New AEW Star Ricochet Reveals Why He Left WWE And Signed With Tony Khan

Months of speculation and rumors ended at Wembley Stadium when during the Casino Gauntlet match at AEW All In, Ricochet made his All Elite Wrestling debut. The former WWE Intercontinental Champion's WWE contract had expired over the summer and had put pen to paper on a multi-year deal with AEW, with the fans in London, England being the first to experience Ricochet in AEW live.

Everyone has their reasons for wanting to do something different in their professional lives, and Ricochet is no different, detailing the main reasons why he chose AEW over WWE in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated. "I've been doing this for a long time, 21 years this year, and for me, the time when I was like, having the most fun in my career was when I was, like, traveling the world with those crazy lunatics in the back there. It's literally the time when I was having the most fun."

Ricochet made sure to note that he has had fun throughout his 21 year career and that isn't going to change any time soon. However, seeing his friends forge their own path in AEW made him realize where he really wanted to be. "I was having the most fun was when I was hanging out with these guys and traveling the world with these guys and having matches with these guys and creating the art that I really like to make for I feel like the Ricochet fans out there who's been, you know, I guess just missing the opportunity to shine. But for me, it's to have fun again and to create that art again."

Leaving a company like WWE is a massive step for any wrestler considering that, despite what some fans would like to admit, they are the biggest company in the world. But sometimes that isn't the be all and end all for a performer, as Ricochet explained that leaving WWE was both easy and difficult in equal measure.

"Yes it was hard because it's a place I've been for the last six years," Ricochet said. "I got some really good connections, some friends, and some good memories there. So it was definitely hard. But at the same time, no, it wasn't because I am a person who has always changed. I've always done stuff, so that's something that I was looking forward to." Ricochet rounded off by saying that he had seen the stars of AEW having fun and knew that he wanted to be a part of it eventually, and as much as it was a difficult decision to leave WWE, he knew that it was the right one.

Ricochet has already gotten his AEW career off to a hot start following All In. He was challenged to a match by Kyle Fletcher of The Don Callis Family, which he won, but was immediately confronted Fletcher's best friend, and a man he knows very well from his time before WWE, Will Ospreay. Fortunately, for Ricochet at least, PAC assaulted Ospreay from behind before anything happened, but given what Ospreay said about him before his debut in London, it seems that Ricochet already has the eyes of some of AEW's top stars locked on to him.

Please credit the original source when using quotes from this article, and thanks to Sports Illustrated for the transcription.