Every generation has its top high-flyer who wows fans with their acrobatic maneuvers. Arguably up there with legends like Ricky Steamboat and Rey Mysterio is one of the best aerial artists WWE has today, the appropriately named Ricochet, who came up through the independent wrestling scene before signing to WWE.
But Ricochet’s only been in WWE about 4 years, and actually debuted way back in 2003, so there’s a lot fans should know about him. Let’s take a look at his entire career, from his time on the indies to his work in Japan all the way to his WWE career so far.
10 Trained By Chuck Taylor
Born in Illinois, Trevor Mann — later known as Ricochet — grew up in Kentucky, where he began his pro wrestling career. Mann was in his teens when he befriended future AEW star Chuck Taylor, who was a couple of years older but already training as a wrestler. Because of their proximity in age, Taylor was the one who ended up training Ricochet, and the two friends spent many of the years that followed as rivals in the ring, putting on nearly 100 matches for IWA Mid-South, EVOLVE, CHIKARA, and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, among others.
9 Wore A Mask In CHIKARA
One of those aforementioned indie outfits, CHIKARA, would be a regular stomping ground for Ricochet, who made his debut in 2006, taking on Chuck Taylor in the Young Lions Cup tournament. The two would continue to feud, with Ricochet putting his career on the line against Taylor and losing. But that wasn’t the end of their rivalry in CHIKARA, as Ricochet would return after a couple of months with a new gimmick as the masked Helios and finally manage to defeat Taylor for the Cup.
8 Impressed Fans In Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
The early 2010s saw Ricochet start showing up in popular Southern California indie Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, where immediately impressed fans in a losing effort against Claudio Castagnoli in the Battle of Los Angeles tournament. There, he’d get some big opportunities, including becoming the first wrestler to win BOLA twice.
In 2017, Ricochet finally reached the top of PWG when he dethroned Chuck Taylor to capture the PWG World Title. The long-time friendship/rivalry would come to head in a Guerrilla Warfare match for the belt, which Taylor would win in Ricochet’s big indie farewell match before signing to WWE.
7 Junior Heavyweight Standout In NJPW
The 2010s also saw Ricochet debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he took part in several editions of the junior heavyweight focused Best of the Super Juniors, winning the 2014 tournament. This run also saw some controversy arise as his 2016 BOSJ bout with Will Ospreay drew criticism from some narrow-minded “traditionalists” who balked at the ridiculously athletic match. While Ricochet was never able to capture the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, he did win some titles in NJPW, including three runs each with the Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Title.
6 Lucha Underground Champion As Prince Puma
In 2014, Ricochet once again donned a mask, this time in the influential cult favorite Lucha Underground, where he became Prince Puma. Basically the main character of the show, Prince Puma managed to become the inaugural Lucha Underground Champion as well as a Lucha Underground Trios Champion alongside Dragon Azteca Jr. and Rey Mysterio Jr. Upon winning the Lucha Underground Title for a second time, he immediately dropped the belt to Pentagon Jr. in a match with his career on the line, resulting in Prince Puma leaving the Aztec Temple for good.
5 Decorated Champion In Dragon Gate
While New Japan Pro-Wrestling was one of Ricochet’s highest profile runs before signing to WWE, fans should also be aware of his work for a different Japanese promotion, Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling. His debut for Dragon Gate would happen in late 2010, with one of his first big rivalries being with PAC over not only the Open The Brave Gate Championship, but also the status of world’s best high flyer. Ricochet would eventually beat PAC for the belt, as well as becoming the first gaijin to hold Dragon Gate’s top title, the Open The Dream Gate Championship.
4 NXT North American Champion
Ricochet would finally sign to WWE in early 2018, making his official televised in-ring debut at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, taking on Killian Dain, EC3, Velveteen Dream, Lars Sullivan, and Adam Cole in a ladder match to become the first North American Champion. Adam Cole would win the match, but Ricochet wasn’t done pursuing the belt.
After four months, Ricochet would get his shot at Adam Cole at TakeOver: Brooklyn 4, dethroning the champion and holding the North American Title for 161 days before dropping it to Johnny Gargano.
3 United States Champion On The Main Roster
Ricochet’s run in NXT would be relatively short, as he’d be on the WWE main roster by early 2019. Initially tag team partners with fellow NXT call-up Aleister Black on SmackDown, Ricochet would eventually get moved to Raw as a singles competitor and take part in bouts like the the Money in the Bank ladder match. In June, Ricochet would find himself as #1 Contender to Samoa Joe’s United States Championship, defeating Joe at Stomping Grounds. However, he’d lose the belt to AJ Styles after just 21 days.
2 Feuded With Brock Lesnar
In early 2020, Ricochet entered the Royal Rumble for the first time, which was dominated by WWE Champion Brock Lesnar for much of the early goings. However, he’d be crucial to Brock’s elimination, scoring a low blow on the champ before Drew McIntyre threw Lesnar out. Ricochet found himself in Lesnar’s sights after winning a #1 Contender’s match, leading to an extremely brief title match at Super ShowDown. Despite it being an embarrassing squash, Ricochet kept a good attitude about it.
1 Intercontinental Champion
While he was unable to capture the WWE Championship, Ricochet did manage to win another notable title when he beat Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental Championship on an early March 2022 episode of SmackDown. With this win, Ricochet became the first wrestler to hold the US, Intercontinental and NXT North American Championships. After 98 days and defenses against Jinder Mahal, and both members of Los Lotharios, Ricochet would lose the belt to main roster newcomer and former NXT UK Champion Gunther.