Ricochet is one of the best in-ring performers in professional wrestling. In a short time, his fiancé, Samantha Irvin, already positioned herself as arguably the greatest ring announcer the industry has ever seen.
Both recently left WWE for different reasons but the same concept. Ricochet and Irvin wanted to do more. Ricochet signed with All Elite Wrestling and debuted in August; Irvin made her last appearance with WWE in October. Ricochet sat down for a very candid interview with Chris Van Vliet.
As you watch it, you wonder why this authentic version of Ricochet never made an appearance with a mic in his hand with WWE.
Van Vliet asked Ricochet why he had left WWE and what had made him choose AEW.
“I think there was a point three and a half years ago into my WWE career where I just said this isn’t what I want to do,” Ricochet said. “But I’m just going to do whatever is asked of me, whatever they need me to do, whatever they want me to do, whoever they need me to lose to, or whatever move they need to make look cool, or whatever. I’m just going to do it, because I’m here and I want to put in the work and show that I’m willing to do what they need me to do to get other opportunities.”
Ricochet didn’t feel he got more than a tease of something meaningful throughout his time with WWE. I always thought he’d do his best promo work if he were more relaxed on the mic. The in-ring stuff was never an issue. He comes off as an interesting person with sharp wit and some humor, but it feels like we never got to see any of it with WWE.
“I feel if they did give me a bone here or there, and I was always on television,” Ricochet mentioned. “I was always showcased on television, so that was always nice, but I felt like it was always for Shinsuke [Nakamura], for Sami [Zayn], for Sheamus, for someone else. It was never Ricochet’s story. Even with Logan [Paul], it was for Logan. They gave me little bits and pieces, but it was really for Logan to move on to something else. After a while, it’s just like, ah, man, and again, anything can happen at any turn of the road. The next week they could have been like, now we’re doing this. So that’s always a chance, but at the end of the day, I think I was really just trying to find out where I was going to be the happiest.”
Ricochet’s last WWE feud was with Bron Breakker, a top-notch young performer, but a guy he had mounds more experience. That concept was disheartening for him as he felt he was starting over. When free agency rolled around, Ricochet listened to WWE but ultimately chose AEW because, “at the time, I felt like AEW could be the gasoline for my fire. Since being there, I feel like I made the right choice.”
Irvin’s exit had also been in the making for a while.
According to Ricochet, Irvin wanted to be a character in WWE storylines and seemingly felt pigeonholed in her role as a ring announcer.
“For her, announcing was only supposed to be the way into WWE because she, first and foremost, is a fan,” Ricochet said. “Before all of that, she grew up with it. Her dad watched it and her brothers grew up with it. So, of course, yes, she’s a performer. So her time performing and traveling the world got her to a position where Mark Henry found her and said, ‘Oh, this girl is amazing. We need her for something.”
Irvin’s unique voice got her into WWE, but she also trained to be an in-ring performer. According to Ricochet, Irvin has pictures of bruises she suffered while training to take bumps, hit the ropes, etc. Irvin admitted, the in-ring work wasn’t going to work. However, from a pure talent standpoint, Irvin is far more than a ring announcer.
She’s acted much of her life, plays musical instruments, and has a fantastic singing voice. Here is a look at Irvin showing more of her talents.
Coupled with her on-screen presence and passion for professional wrestling, Irvin seems like an excellent fit in a more significant role–a manager on par with MVP (who is now in AEW) and, perhaps at some point, one of the most impacting women in professional wrestling. That opportunity didn’t come for her, at least not now.
Ricochet offered this take on Irvin’s situation, and in context, he’s not wrong.
“This is just my example, it’s like having Mariah Carey, but she’s just a ring announcer, and you don’t get any of the other stuff.”
We’ve learned that respect and opportunity in WWE sometimes come once a performer leaves, validate themselves, and return for more money and fanfare than they ever had during their first run. It happened with Cody Rhodes and CM Punk.
It’ll be interesting to see if Ricochet and Irvin get or are even interested in that opportunity.
