Ricochet claims he was going to quit WWE before he won major title
Former WWE Superstar Ricochet left the Stamford-based company in June. However, the current AEW star recently claimed he wanted to part ways with the wrestling promotion even before he won the Intercontinental Championship.
The 35-year-old signed a contract with the global juggernaut in 2018. After a successful stint on NXT, he was drafted to Monday Night RAW the following year. Ricochet won his first-ever title on the main roster within a few months as he defeated Samoa Joe to become the United States Champion before losing the title to AJ Styles after 21 days.
During his recent appearance on Talk is Jericho, Ricochet recalled how he won the Intercontinental Champion after he told John Laurinaitis that he wanted to quit WWE. He claimed to have expressed his desire to go back to the Indies.
"Who really knows what they were thinking at the time? Maybe they thought that I was gonna just stay, and maybe they did think that. I don't know. But it was funny because I forgot what year it was. I forgot what year I won the Intercontinental Championship. But that year, I had actually went to (John) Laurinaitis and was like, 'Hey guys, I kind of wanna quit.' I said, 'I would go back to the indies and make, you know, a quarter of the money I'm making now, than to come back in here next week,'" he said.
The former NXT North American Champion added he was given a match for the Intercontinental Championship the following week. He further thanked Johnny Knoxville for helping him defeat Sami Zane for the title.
"It was funny because they're, like, 'Intercontinental Championship match,' and then, like, next week, I did win, thanks to Johnny Knoxville. Thank you, Johnny Knoxville, for helping me, and I did win." [H/T: Post Wrestling]
You can listen to the entire podcast below:
Ricochet claims he would have never joined WWE if AEW had come up earlier
Following his departure from WWE, Ricochet inked a deal with AEW last month. He debuted at All In as a surprise entrant in the Casino Gauntlet match.
In his conversation with Chris Jericho, Ricochet claimed that he would have joined AEW had the wrestling promotion been operational when he joined the Stamford-based company. He added that he wanted to be on NXT instead of RAW or SmackDown.
"At the time, if AEW was even a thought or a plan or anything, I for sure would've went this direction for sure. At the time, the black-and-gold stuff [NXT] was going crazy. That was kind of the only place I really wanted to be. I didn't want to go to RAW or SmackDown. I wanted to be in NXT. I was only there for like nine months and then we got called up to RAW," he said.
Ricochet had a very inconsistent WWE career. It remains to be seen what lies ahead for the high-flyer following his move to join the rival promotion.