Ricochet officially became All Elite at AEW All In when he was a surprise entrant in the Casino Gauntlet. His contract with WWE had expired on July 1, making him a free agent and paving the way for him to join AEW.
Ricochet had spent six years in WWE, and won the WWE Intercontinental and WWE United States Championships during his time in the promotion.
Speaking to Steven Muelhausen of Sports Illustrated, Ricochet was asked about his decision to join AEW.
"Honestly, the biggest reason is that 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. Despite what people may think, it's not always been bad for Ricochet. I've had fun my entire career, no matter where I went. I've always had fun. That's not going to change. But when 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," he said.
Asked if it was a hard decision, Ricochet replied, "It was definitely a big decision, but honestly, yes and no. Obviously, yes it was hard because it's a place I've been for the last six years. of I've met. 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. And I just saw what AEW was doing. I saw the guys and girls over there and what they were doing, and it just seemed so fun. You want to be a part of it. Now that I'm able to and able to be a part of it and hopefully help move it forward into the next, generation is going to be awesome. So, as hard of a decision as it was, I knew it was the right decision.
Ricochet got on the winning track in AEW when he defeated Kyle Fletcher on Wednesday's AEW Dynamite.
Fightful Select reported on August 22nd that Ricochet had signed a multi-year deal with the company.
