Ricochet Channels The Joker in Current Role With AEW [Exclusive]

For the majority of his pro wrestling career, Ricochet has always been the hero. The babyface. In AEW? Not so much and the timing is perfect.

Ricochet joined AEW in August of 2024 as the hero that he'd always been. By the time January of this year had rolled around, Ricochet found his true voice and calling. Embracing the villain side of himself.

When Ricochet took a pair of scissors to the head of Swerve Strickland, he realigned and started a brand new era in his career. From there, he created The Demand faction and secured AEW World Trios Championship gold.

Ricochet is also the face of a brand new DC campaign called DC Super Villains. The focus is to "shine a light on characters like Harley Quinn, Catwoman, Lex Luthor, Clayface, and others to celebrate the unforgettable personalities, distinctive style, and enduring cultural impact that have shaped comics, film, television, gaming, and pop culture for generations." The idea is for DC fans to take a deeper look at the gray areas between good and evil.

Ricochet, DC, and The Joker

The gray area between good and evil? It's Ricochet's preferred spot. In an exclusive interview with The Takedown on SI, Ricochet pulled the curtain open and discussed his character development in and out of AEW, where he gets creative inspiration from, and his future. He also revealed that he pulls a key ingredient from one of the most popular DC villains ever. The Joker.

"The Joker, who obviously thrives in chaos, is somebody I take a lot of inspiration from," Ricochet said. "Because Ricochet in AEW just likes to cause chaos. Whether that leads to something or not, he just wants to cause chaos. So that’s something I connect with... There’s a method behind his madness, and that’s also something I pull from."

Character development has been a crucial piece of the Ricochet act for years. It's something he says he studies and works hard on. At the same time, he says there is a balance needed to achieve some spontaneity based on what the audience is bringing. It's a 50/50 balance of preparing and preparing for the pivot.

"It’s a 50/50 thing," Ricochet said on balancing how he works creatively as a character. "I love having things happen organically, because I think a lot of the time you get some of the best stuff that way. But if I’m going into a promo, I try to think about anything that person is going to say to me, because I need to have a response back. So I sit there and think about it as much as I can, but at the same time, I am a fan of spontaneity.

"Sometimes you don’t know how the crowd’s going to react to something, so you have to react to the way they react. You have to go off them sometimes. Or sometimes you have to drive them to where you’re trying to go."

Peak Ricochet

Since the beginning of his career, Ricochet has been a high-flying star that's filled with action and energy. That wasn't peak Ricochet. Peak Ricochet is where he believes he is today.

It's not just physicality anymore. Obviously, that is still a part of his game and something special he brings to matches, but he now says he has a deeper connection with the audience, which allows him to reach higher and do more as a performer.

"Before, it was always physical," Ricochet said. "You’re going to see something spectacular. I’m going to do something that’s going to make you get out of your seat, which I can still do. But now I also have that emotional connection."

Now that Ricochet has embraced his villainous side and has cultivated an emotional connection with the audience, he's only interested in hearing one thing from the crowds on a weekly basis. Boos. Loud, loud boos.

"When I come out and people don’t start clapping, they start booing; that’s just as much cheering as when Will Ospreay or Kenny Omega comes out and people cheer for them," Ricochet said. "I don’t want to be cheered. My job as the villain of the story is to get you to dislike this character so you can like the person I’m in there facing, whoever that may be.

"I don’t want to be cheered. I want to do everything I can to make you think, 'This guy’s annoying. This guy’s stupid. I hate this guy.' Whatever that may be. Because at the end of the day, I’m going to do something in the ring, and you’re going to want to cheer. And then you’re going to be like, 'Oh, crap, I can’t cheer this guy. I gotta boo him.' So that’s always kind of cool."

Ricochet remembers PAC

PAC | Ricky Havlik - All Elite Wrestling

Outside the topic of character development in pro wrestling, the conversation shifted toward current-day AEW and the sad times the company has faced in recent months. The tribute to PAC edition of AEW Dynamite was something Ricochet was incredibly proud of and something he needed to help process the loss of his friend. He also revealed that the match on that show with Will Ospreay came together in just minutes.

"Honestly, the match kind of helps you," Ricochet said regarding the difficulty of performing on such a sad show. "The match helps the day go by, because without having to think about your match, you’re stuck thinking about sad times, basically. At least for me specifically, having something to put my mind toward helped. You don’t turn off your emotions, but you have to focus on this, or otherwise you could get hurt. Having something like that to focus on for the day kind of helped.

"It’s kind of criminal how quickly he (Will Ospreay) and I got all that together. It’s kind of criminal how quickly we were like, 'Oh yeah, okay, well, I guess that’s it. I’ll see you later.' Because we work so well together, and we just knew Ben so well. It was about going out there and putting on for the people we knew were going to be there and appreciate it."

2026 has been a strong year for AEW and there's still a lot left to go. The company returns to PPV on November 14, and then finishes out with Worlds End and the now-annual Continental Classic tournament. The company is Ricochet's home and he says he's there to help it grow.

"AEW is a company I’ve loved being a part of since day one," Ricochet said. "Literally since I stepped through the doors, I’ve been nothing but happy and excited about the possibilities for the future. It’s endless possibilities here in AEW, and they’ve been so welcoming to me. So you want to represent them as well as possible. You want to do everything you can to help the company grow."

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