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Report: Lucha Underground Star Prince Puma (aka Ricochet) Possibly Headed To WWE

TJR Wrestling

Lucha Underground’s Prince Puma, also known as Ricochet in New Japan Pro Wrestling and other various promotions, may be coming to WWE.

The following is from Dave Meltzer’s latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

“For whatever this is worth, and it’s probably a lot, independent promoters looking for summer dates on Ricochet (Trevor Mann, 27), have been told that he isn’t taking any dates after June. It appears to be a lock he’s coming here, although one person close to him said it’s not his immediate next move, but it is where he’ll wind up. WWE has wanted him as soon as he was contractually available after they missed on him the first time, which was a series of weird situations. We had already heard New Japan was looking for a new partner for Sydal.”

That last line is in reference to Ricochet being one half of NJPW’s reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions; alongside Matt Sydal (known as Evan Bourne in WWE).

Prince Puma’s Lucha Underground contract expires after Season 3. Since Lucha Underground is taping Season 2 and 3 back to back, the third season will finish taping around the middle of May. However, Puma’s contract does not allow him to sign with WWE until six months after Season 3 finishes airing; which will be late July/early August of 2017. This is where his contract gets a little strange as it would expire in May, but he wouldn’t get paid or be allowed to work elsewhere for a while. Maybe Lucha Underground does agree to pay him, but if they don’t it would be tough for them to enforce this rule. As The Wrestling Observer also mentions, WWE enforces wrestlers to non-competes as well, the difference being that WWE pays its wrestlers during the non-compete period.

For what it’s worth, he offered up this comment on Twitter that could be something or it could be nothing.

https://twitter.com/KingRicochet/status/718470183195521025

He also explained why he is taking a month off later in the year.

https://twitter.com/KingRicochet/status/718581279738998786

Keep in mind that a lot of wrestlers like to work the fans on Twitter, so who knows what is true in this case.

Mark’s reaction: It’s no surprise that WWE has been interested in Ricochet for a while. He’s incredibly talented and has been making a name for himself through various promotions over the years. I think he has really proven his star quality and potential in Lucha Underground as Prince Puma. There are many people on Lucha Underground’s roster that I can see working in WWE, but the two names that always come to mind first are Fenix and Prince Puma. Puma was the inaugural Lucha Underground Champion and is arguably the biggest star in the company. He was extremely pivotal to Season 1’s success, which in turn helped LU get renewed for a second season.

He’s 27 years old, so even if he doesn’t come to WWE until late 2017 or early 2018, he’ll still be quite young. I can easily see him as the face of NXT for a few years. It’s funny because whenever I begin to think NXT will lose some of its steam when Balor, Joe, Zayn, etc. move up to the main roster, guys like Aries, Ibushi, Roode, and Puma get thrown into the discussion. One thing I hope happens if he comes to WWE is that he’s put in a mask. If Lucha Underground has taught me anything, it’s that you can have a roster filled with plenty of masked wrestlers and have each one feel distinct and unique. Puma has proven that he can work a masked gimmick very well, so I’d like to see it happen in WWE.

Would you like to see Puma/Ricochet come to WWE, or are you upset that WWE keeps swallowing up a lot of talent from other promotions? WWE’s roster is currently very large; do you think they’ll be able to utilize everyone properly? Leave any of your thoughts in the comment section below.