The Harsh Reality Of WWE's Recent Improvements

Riddick Moss Ricochet
WWE.com

And it ruined an act after the pitch and draft process of this very article. Work started before this week's RAW. And then this week's RAW started. Ricochet lost a scheduled defence of a joke title that can be defended anytime, anywhere (!) to a talent that isn't in his sport, much less his league. That isn't a criticism of Riddick Moss as much as it is an appraisal of Ricochet.

He was a World Title contender less than a week ago. He is an unreal talent that every single company he worked for other than WWE's main roster maximised and got over.

Do you know what's happened here? It's such a profound illustration of the creative process that it renders this article moot. Vince McMahon decided to go with Ricochet as a means of transitioning to the Drew McIntyre match at WrestleMania 36. To build Ricochet's character ahead of the match, WWE opted for a lame, quasi-inspirational David Vs. Goliath story and handed him rotten, dry, deeply unconvincing material. Ricochet did not convince when delivering it. He couldn't get something over that had no hope of getting over. He was criticised heavily for his promos, he was suspiciously murdered in under two minutes at Super ShowDown, and then he was buried into the core of the earth on RAW last night.

He was punished for WWE's systemic failures, as so many were before him.

CONT'D...(3 of 5)

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!