One of the realest things that Last Week Tonight host John Oliver has ever said off the cuff is “Professional wrestling is better than the things you like.” Every time I see my other love, anime, spill into the squared circle, that boast only grows stronger. As a lifelong fan of both, I’ve had my fair share of pop-offs watching wrestlers sneak nods to my favorite shows in their pay-per-view ring gear, movesets, and character work. Still, it’s rare to see a wrestler go all in making anime, not just an Easter egg, but the core of their in-ring persona, the way All Elite Wrestling‘s Ricochet has with his heel faction, the Demand.
Professional wrestling, like anime, is theater with a body count. There are heroes (“faces”), villains (“heels”), and decades of lore to draw from (“kayfabe”). Likewise, the line separating the mass appeal of the two media has basically become translucent over the last seven years for the “sickos” watching AEW Dynamite. Still, whenever these crossovers do happen, they tend to be a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it treat for the “smark” weebs on your couch, at the bar, in the crowd, or online to whisper, “Oh, that’s a One Piece thing,” to folks outside of the know to grasp why Ricochet and his tag team partners dressing up like admirals from Eiichiro Oda’s magnum opus is the coolest thing ever.
https://t.co/EJ2AgbMX2o pic.twitter.com/j7wicoi46d
— Lightskin Kingpin (@KingRicochet) May 1, 2026
Not everyone has time to be both a wrestling fan and an anime buff. So io9 spoke with Ricochet to get fans in on the ground floor about the anime inspirations that shape his heelish persona, the heroes and villains he folded into his ring psychology, and his personal ranking of the greatest anime of all time.
AEW Stars visited the @Crunchyroll Studios in Dallas during our Collision residency!
Hear @KingRicochet, @AthenaPalmer_FG, @BountyKeith, @GREATBLACKOTAKU + @SuaveMansoor‘s watchlists, the characters they think would fit in AEW + more!
Tell us who you think fits in AEW! 👇 pic.twitter.com/yjpezxnOJ2
— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 16, 2026
Isaiah Colbert, io9: All Elite Wrestling has garnered the reputation of being one of the most anime-literate locker rooms in all of professional wrestling. From your vantage point, how deep does the anime fandom run backstage? Are there any wrestlers fans wouldn’t think are diehard anime fans? What’s that hierarchy look like with you in the mix?
Ricochet: What’s funny is someone like Toa [Liona], my partner in the Demand, he’s huge into anime. He came out with me, and we wore the jackets and stuff. That’s not just my idea. He’s someone who puts me on a lot of anime. He put me on Sentenced to Be a Hero, Spy x Family, and a couple of different ones I can name. I put him on to To Be Hero X. He’s big into it. There are a couple of guys backstage who I talk to, like Konosuke Takeshita. He and I talk a lot about what’s coming up and stuff that we’ve watched.
I think it’s growing—the similarities between the two. You can draw inspiration from anime and apply it to wrestling because of the stories, the characters, the overcoming, and even the evil villains. I draw a lot from the villains. I think there’s a lot of stuff you can use from it now more than ever.
io9: When did anime stop being just something you watched for fun and start becoming a creative foundation for how you wrestle, move, and present yourself in AEW?
Ricochet: A couple of years ago, for sure, but especially more recently now that I’m able to use more of my ideas rather than be told what to do. Back in the day, I would draw inspiration from Power Rangers. I had yellow, pink, red, and blue gear, all the same design. And then I did Nightwing and Batman Beyond-inspired gear. I’ve always used what I like to watch as inspiration. But now, more than ever, we’re able to do things like that.
io9: One thing I noticed is your new finishing move, Spirit Gun. It’s sick, not just because it’s a striking move to add to your repertoire as a high flyer, but it’s also a neat reference to Yu Yu Hakusho. What sparked the idea to bring YYH into your wheelhouse?
Ricochet: One, I love Yusuke Urameshi. I think he’s one of the best characters in anime. If he thinks that you’re evil or you’re doing wrong, he’s gonna kick your butt. He even says it in the anime. He’s like, “I don’t care if she’s a girl or anyone’s grandmother!” How he looks at life, how he looks at protecting his friends, and what he believes in, I think, are awesome.
And, at the time, I was feuding with Will Ospreay, who has his own version of it. So the Spirit Gun was something to be a counterpart to his Hidden Blade. A bunch of factors went into it, but being a huge fan of the show was something that I had been thinking about for a while. I just didn’t know when to actually bring it out, and I feel like that was the perfect time.
io9: You mentioned Yusuke being a hero, but your character is a heel. And the look for your tag-team faction, the Demand, references One Piece‘s admirals. How did that idea originate? What was the behind-the-scenes like of getting the outfits to look like they were lifted straight out of the anime?
Ricochet: That was my idea. I had been wearing the admiral’s jacket by myself for a little bit before we formed our group. Once we formed, they actually wanted the same style of jackets as well. It actually worked out perfectly because Akainu, Kizaru, and Aokiji are the top three admirals, and one was red, one was blue, and one was yellow. It all worked out perfectly, seeing how there are three of us. I didn’t want to fight that because—especially in AEW—you have a lot of different groups and everyone has all these different looks, so I felt like the imagery of it all was really cool.
When we take photos or come out in our entrance, I feel like the imagery is specific, and people know that problems are coming for whoever sees those jackets. One Piece is like my favorite anime, so I want to draw inspiration from that. When you see those guys come in, they’re big, they’re ruthless, they’re violent. I felt like it was perfect.
io9: When it comes to the wrestling fans in AEW who aren’t the smark otaku that can spot those references, if they want to understand you—your in-ring philosophy, your work rate, your character in AEW—what are the five anime you’d tell them to watch as a Ricochet starter kit?
Ricochet: Definitely One Piece, whether it be the villains or the heroes. Yu Yu Hakusho is one. Toguro, Sensui, and Yusuke all have a lot to do with who Ricochet is. I like My Hero Academia‘s All For One as a villain; I think he’s one of the best. He’s purely evil. He doesn’t have many redeemable qualities because he just wants to be evil. I know all of these are kind of cliché, but I feel like what Pain represents from Naruto—his sense of justice, of what he thinks is right—is what our group is trying to bring to AEW.
It’d be hard not to say the OG, because Frieza is one of my favorite villains in all of entertainment. Since I was a kid, he’s always been one of my favorite villains just because he wants to be the most powerful. He wants to rule it all. He wants to control everything. He wants to be the main person, while Goku’s the complete opposite, with his desire to preserve life and to be a defender of the weak. That’s a great story for what we bring to the table. It’s hard to get people to watch Dragon Ball Z, especially with it being so old, and the animation isn’t as good as the animation of today.
I’ll throw in Mahito and Geto from Jujutsu Kaisen, too. Mahito just wants to bring chaos and live how he wants. Geto’s very manipulative, and he thinks before he takes his next step. Aizen from Bleach is always going to be a top-tier villain, too.
io9: Funny you mention that. Whenever anime comes up, the Big Three, Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach, always get mentioned, leading everyone to have their anime credentials diamond-tested. What’s your ranking of the Big Three?
Ricochet: For me, it’s One Piece, Naruto, then Bleach. But that doesn’t mean that Bleach is bad. I love Bleach, the heroes, the villains. Even someone like Chad—I think Chad’s awesome. A lot of people have harsh critiques, but I’m very forgiving because I just enjoy those IPs being brought to the screen. When I first watched Naruto, it made me feel so good (and so bad sometimes), but the rollercoaster it put me through hit me a little deeper than what Bleach had hit me with. That’s not to say any of them are worse than the other. It’s just that One Piece is the best. It’s so good.
io9: What shows are you watching now? Are they at all influencing how you think about your character on AEW Dynamite?
Ricochet: I just finished season two of Frieren, My Hero Vigilantes, and To Be Hero X. I’ve been rewatching Dragon Ball Z. I started it all over a couple of months ago. I started at Dragon Ball, watched all that, and now I’m in the Freeza Saga again. I’m always on and off on One Piece. I started Fire Force, then I dropped off and restarted it, and now I’m into season two. Black Clover is one I’ve been watching, especially because My Hero is my favorite new-gen anime, and a lot of people say it’s theirs, so I’ve been wanting to give it a try. Black Clover is good; I really like it a lot.
And then, obviously, you have Attack on Titan, which is next level. JJK has been good to watch. I’m on like episode four of Sentenced to Be a Hero. That one’s good as well. I’ve finished both seasons of Vinland Saga. That’s phenomenal. I know season two, for some reason, gets a lot of flak because it’s not as action-packed as season one, but I really enjoyed it for its own reasons. I’m always sifting through things.
io9: What if you could design a future entrance, gear set, or moment built around any anime that you’re dying to bring to life on an AEW stage?
Ricochet: The cool thing about this is if we have an idea, we get to (more than likely) apply it to what we’re doing. So far, the ideas I’ve had, I’ve been able to do. But we’ve got a couple of things in store. I would love to have a cool anime-inspired entrance, even if it’s just a one-off. Whether it’s a cross-promotional thing, I would love to incorporate a One Piece, My Hero, or Naruto-type partnership.
The anime fandom and the pro wrestling fandoms are so similar, and you can draw so much inspiration from both. Even though a wrestler will get older, when he gets into the ring, his moves still hurt just as bad, maybe more, than they did when he was younger. Take Killua’s grandpa in Hunter x Hunter. He’s known to be this powerful guy, and even when he shows up on the screen, people are like, “Oh crap,” because he’s still just as powerful as he was back in the day. Things like that.
Any type of thing I can bring, like a cool entrance or something like that, even if it’s just a one-off, that’s something that I’m always looking forward to.
You can watch Ricochet piss off old-school wrestling pundits like Jim Cornette with his cool video-gamey anime flips and beat up Chris Jericho on AEW Dynamite every Wednesday on TBS and HBO Max.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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