Real reason for Ricochet's WWE departure revealed

Ricochet left WWE in June and debuted for AEW just 58 days later. There was significant speculation surrounding his WWE departure due to a surprise reward from the company. The real reason for the chain of events has just been confirmed.

The Highlight of the Night saw his WWE contract expire at the end of June. It was reported weeks before that Ricochet gave notice of his plan to leave when the deal was up. This was just 44 days after he was crowned the inaugural WWE Speed Champion and 37 days after it aired. The 21-year veteran was on RAW around this time, feuding with Ilja Dragunov and Bron Breakker, who was soon used to write the high-flyer out of the storylines and end his run at six and a half years.

Ricochet had strong AEW buzz as soon as the reports came down in June. He debuted for the company at All In on August 25 and is now opening up on what led to his release from the Stamford-based promotion. Speaking to SHAK Wrestling, the 35-year-old was asked what he was not getting in his WWE experience that drew him to AEW.

"I don't know if it was what I [wasn't getting]... because my whole career, I've always had fun, always found the best in everything I've done, there's never been a time in my career where I have, I don't know, been... sad? I don't know, I think it was being able to have the opportunity to give again, [to] the fans of Ricochet, who've been missing... and again, I was used on TV a lot, whether it was a match on RAW, Main Event, SmackDown, or what have you," he said. [From 3:01 to 3:45]

He continued:

"I was on a lot, but I feel like the quality of how much I was on TV wasn't there, for my fans. For me, I'm able to perform and do something I love, so I'm kind of getting... but I wasn't able to give my fans what they've been wanting out of me, whether or not that's... I don't know exactly what that was, but I just know, for my fans, they were wanting something, and I think that was missing for me. I know [AEW] is the perfect place to be able to give my fans exactly the Ricochet they've been looking for," he said. [From 3:46 to 4:21]

The One & Only debuted for AEW as the 10th entrant in the Casino Gauntlet match at All In. He then made his Dynamite debut this past Wednesday, defeating Kyle Fletcher.

An inside look at Ricochet's AEW theme

AEW Music head producer Mikey Rukus has provided a sneak peek at the creation of the first-ever AEW theme song for Ricochet. The international star is expected to make his third appearance on Wednesday's Dynamite.

Rukus took to X to share behind-the-scenes footage of the theme being made. "Into The Rico-verse" is the name of the former Prince Puma's new song.

The Future of Flight previously used two theme songs while with WWE. He started out with "One & Only" from CFO$ and later used "It's About To Go Down" by Def Rebel.