Top star admits he would have never joined WWE if AEW had come up earlier - "I didn't want to go to RAW or SmackDown"

Over the past few years, many stars have revealed their personal experience working with WWE. A top AEW star who wrestled for World Wrestling Entertainment for almost six years seems to regret his decision.

When Ricochet first signed with WWE in 2018, he wrestled in NXT where he was immediately pushed however, after being called up to the main roster in 2019 his push seemingly came to a halt. Although the high flyer won the United States Championship and Intercontinental Title, his career took a downturn after losing the IC belt to Gunther in June 2022.

After a lackluster booking, The One and Only left the Stamford-based promotion earlier this year and joined AEW, debuting at All In in Wembley Stadium.

On the latest episode of Talk is Jericho, Ricochet mentioned that he would've chosen AEW instead if that was an option back in 2018. He said that he signed with WWE because NXT was really hot at the time.

"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. They just did Cesaro and Sami Zayn, Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke. The Finn Balors and the Kevin Owens'. All of those guys were just killing it. Not only that, but you had Undisputed Era when I was there and Aleister Black was there."

Within a few months of joining NXT, Ricochet was called up to the main roster. However, he never wanted to go to RAW or SmackDown.

"That was kind of the only place I really wanted to be," Ricochet continued. "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." [H/T Comicbook.com]

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Tommy Dreamer comments on Ricochet joining AEW

Ricochet joining AEW turned a lot of heads. Some people were happy about it and a few were disappointed. However, one wrestling legend backed the former WWE star's decision to join Tony Khan's company.

During a recent episode of Busted Open Radio, Tommy Dreamer said that the One and Only star leaving the Stamford-based promotion was the right move.

"I think it was a very good move to leave the WWE because I think one, he was there for a while and never was able to crack [the] mid-card and not because of talent, just because of, I don't know, booking. Sometimes this is the old 'you got to leave to get noticed to get over,' so you can eventually go back a-la Cody Rhodes."

One of the most awaited matches for fans since Ricochet's All Elite debut has been him vs. Will Ospreay and Tony Khan wasted no time giving the fans what they want. Ospreay is set to face the former WWE star at the fifth-anniversary edition of Dynamite next month.

It will be interesting to see if Ricochet will get over now that he's in All Elite Wrestling.