AEW National Champion Ricochet has opened up about his dissatisfaction with his time at WWE in a series of tweets, claiming the company took his love for pro wrestling away and that he was unhappy that he was being used to make others look good. Additionally, he revealed that he had attempted to quit and return to independent wrestling, likening his situation to that of talents like Finn Balor, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Apollo Crews.
37-year-old Ricochet, real name Trevor Mann, joined WWE in 2018 and debuted in NXT, where he was prominently featured and positioned as a future star. From there, he was called up to the main roster in 2019 and won the United States Championship and Intercontinental Championship on SmackDown. Yet despite this mid-card success, he felt undervalued, and he 90-second squash match against Brock Lesnar at Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia was a career lowlight. Therefore, few were shocked when he chose to leave in June 2024, believing he had a better chance of fulfilling his potential in AEW.
