It was bound to happen at some point given how Ricochet’s been stagnant as of late. Despite all of his skill in the ring, his storylines stalled for one reason or another, prompting the news that Vince McMahon buried Ricochet.
The thing is, Ricochet has the skill but is so-so on the mic, but how much of that is due to reading a script or his own limited abilities is anyone’s guess. Only he and McMahon would know for sure, but does it warrant him being buried so quickly after being awarded as 2019’s Breakout Superstar.
The award may have been a challenge
It’s definitely possible that the award was meant to inspire him to greatness, just like any award the WWE hands out. They’re meant to put a spotlight on the wrestler and give them an opportunity to grab on and take it to new heights. At least, that’s a reasonable expectation from a fans’ point of view.
But it was right after this Ricochet seemed to lose his steam. His matches, while always energetic and entertaining, lacked the importance of his other matches. Feuds are great, but when it’s the same kind of feud over and over it gets tiring. Throughout it all, he continued to put on quality in-ring performances, but his fate may have been tied to another.
Cedric Alexander
As skill sets go, Alexander and Ricochet are nearly identical. Alexander had been a favorite of Paul Heyman and received a pretty good push, but it was reported that McMahon didn’t like him. So that was ended after a handful of weeks.
Now it appears that Ricochet’s WWE career is following his fellow high flyer’s.
He’s buried
Vince McMahon has a well known appreciation of well and over-muscled wrestlers. The bigger, the better, and the age of the giant may be returning to the WWE.
While that’s a welcome change from an entire roster of mid-weight high flyers, there’s no reason to bury two of the more talented in-ring performers on the roster.
It’s a correlation that was kinda made by Dave Meltzer when he broke the news (Thank you ringsidenews.com for the quote).
“I don’t know what the mentality is. Obviously… Ricochet’s done. I mean maybe they will… but, it’s Vince! You know he may change his mind next week, but this week he’s done. He’s so done. You know this was a burial without a doubt.
“Who knows? He just gets these things in his head like with Cedric Alexander he was supposed to get a big push and Vince just buried the guy and now he’s burying another guy.”
So, while McMahon continues to push other talent with questionable mic skills (Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns), he’s burying other, far more talented in-ring performers for whatever reason pops into his head.
Whatever’s going on, Ricochet could have a few more years to figure out what to do since his main roster contract is only a year old. It’s highly doubtful McMahon would allow someone as talented as Ricochet walk away with a release, so he’ll bury him in the mid-card ranks and continue wondering why he’s losing money and we’re moving out attention to other promotions.
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