10 WWE Number One Contenders Nobody Actually Thought Could Win

3. Ricochet

Cain Velasquez Brock Lesnar
WWE.com

Poor, poor Richochet. WWE has done a number on the high-flying hero, to the point where redemption seems an eternity away. It is hard to believe that the former NXT North American Champion was the number one contender to the WWE Championship just three months ago, although in truth it was even harder believing that he had a chance against Brock Lesnar. The Beast Incarnate was always going to beat Ricochet.

That was an inevitability, but the wrestling world at least hoped for a vaguely competitive match. Lesnar had had thrilling bouts against smaller competitors like AJ Styles, Daniel Bryan and Finn Bálor; surely he could put together something special with Ricochet? Not even the former Prince Puma thought that the upset could happen, but at least put on a show along the way?

94 seconds. The match lasted 94 seconds.

Richochet challenging for the WWE Championship at Super ShowDown was an absolute waste of time, an egregious example of WWE's addiction to self-sabotage. It did nothing for Brock Lesnar, it did nothing for the show, it did nothing for the title. Nobody thought Ricochet was going to go win, but people didn't expect him to be buried quite so deeply underground.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.