Ricochet (wrestler)

Professional wrestling career

Trevor Mann started out in Chaos Pro Wrestling where he had the ring name Cameron Locke, then in 2003 under the ring name Ricochet, he began competing on the independent circuit until he made his first major outing on February 6, 2006 at Insanity Pro Wrestling's Sacrifice event, where he took part in a five-man elimination match involving future long-time rival Chuck Taylor, DieHard, Tony Galloway and Ty Blade. Ricochet was the final wrestler eliminated as Taylor pinned him to win the match. A few weeks later on February 18, Ricochet took part in his first major championship match as he, Chuck Taylor, Jeff Jameson, Brian Sterling and Cabana Man Dan took part in another five-man elimination match at Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South's Xtreme Warfare event for the vacant Deep South Heavyweight Championship, which Cabana Man Dan won. A few months later at IWA Mid-South's event We're No Joke! on April 1, Ricochet took part in a nine-man Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to determine the one contender for the Light Heavyweight Championship, also involving his rival Chuck Taylor. Although he lost the match to Darin Corbin, he was involved in an infamous spot in which he performed his finishing move, a double rotation moonsault, off of a ladder to the outside of the ring and onto the other eight competitors. On that same day, Ricochet also competed at Insanity Pro Wrestling's event Mischief, Mayhem and Revenge, where he lost to Taylor for the promotion's Junior Heavyweight Championship.

Early career (2006–2008)

On June 24, Ricochet made his Chikara debut as he lost in the first round of the fourth Young Lions Cup tournament against Chuck Taylor. The following day, he teamed with Player Uno in a losing effort to Taylor and Cloudy. A few months later on November 17 at the event Brick, Ricochet picked up his first win as a member of the Chikara roster after he, Cloudy and Mike Quackenbush defeated Cheech, Retail Dragon and Shane Storm. The following day, Ricochet again lost to Taylor at the event Talent Borrows; Genius Steals.

On February 16, 2007 at the King of Trios event, Ricochet made his first challenge for the Young Lions Cup, but was unable to defeat Max Boyer for the title. Two days later, he lost to Claudio Castagnoli. On April 22, Ricochet took part in the semi-finals of the first-ever Rey de Voladores tournament, where he lost in a fatal four-way elimination match involving Retail Dragon, Pac and long-time rival Chuck Taylor, the latter of whom would go on to win the tournament. On June 23, Ricochet won his first round match of the fifth Young Lions Cup tournament after he defeated Chrisjen Hayme. Later on in the day, Ricochet won a six-way elimination match in the semi-finals to advance to the finals. The next day, Ricochet lost to Chuck Taylor for the vacant Young Lions Cup. On August 18 at the event Here Come The International Invaders, Ricochet faced and lost to Taylor in a Young Lions Cup vs. Career match, resulting in Ricochet being forced to leave Chikara.

On October 27 at New Star Navigation, Ricochet, sporting a new haircut, new attire and a wrestling mask, returned to Chikara under the ring name Helios, where he finally defeated Taylor for the Young Lions Cup. However, Taylor disputed Helios' win by claiming that Helios was actually Ricochet in disguise. Despite Taylor's claims, Helios' win was still ruled as valid and was thus still the official new champion. On November 16 at Battle Of Who Could Care Less, Helios retained his Young Lions Cup title after defeating Hydra. The following day at The Sordid Perils Of Everyday Existence, Helios again retained his title, this time against Fire Ant.

The Future is Now (2008–2010)

On February 29, 2008, Helios teamed with Incoherence (Hallowicked and Delirious) and the three became "The Golden Trio" in order to participate in the 2008 King of Trios tournament. After receiving a bye in the first round, The Golden Trio defeated Team IPW:UK (Martin Stone, Terry Frazier and Sha Samuels) and The Fabulous Three (Larry Sweeney, Mitch Ryder and Shayne Hawke) in the second and quarterfinal rounds, respectively, before losing to The BLKOUT in the semi-finals. On April 19 at Deuces Wild, Helios successfully retained the Young Lions Cup against Lince Dorado. At Grit And Glory on May 15, Helios advanced to the finals of the Rey de Voladores tournament but ultimately lost to Incognito. On June 15, Helios lost his Young Lions Cup after Fire Ant defeated Vin Gerard in the finals of the sixth Young Lions Cup tournament. On September 6, Helios teamed up with Tim Donst to take part in the first-ever La Lotería Letal tournament, where they lost to Icarus and Ultimo Breakfast in the first round. On November 11 at Cibernetico Begins, Helios was a part of Team Equinox (Equinox, Fire Ant, Soldier Ant, Worker Ant, Hydra, Tim Donst and Mike Quackenbush) as they defeated Team Vin Gerard (Gerard, STIGMA, Lince Dorado, UltraMantis Black, Crossbones, Amasis, Ophidian and Eddie Kingston) in a 16-man elimination tag team match. At Face With A View on December 12, Helios formed The Future is Now with Equinox and Lince Dorado and they defeated The UnStable (Vin Gerard, Colin Delaney and STIGMA).

On January 1, 2009, The Future is Now (Helios and Dorado) lost their first match together against Team F.I.S.T. (Icarus, Gran Akuma). At the 2009 King of Trios tournament, The Future is Now defeated Team DDT (Kota Ibushi, KUDO and Michael Nakazawa) and The Osirian Portal (Amasis, Ophidian and Escorpion Egipcio) in the first and quarterfinal rounds, respectively, before losing to Team F.I.S.T. (Icarus, Gran Akuma and Chuck Taylor) in the semi-finals. Following the tournament, The Future is Now then began a feud with The Osirian Portal, resulting in Helios defeating Escorpion Egipcio in a singles match at Behind The 8 Ball on April 25 and The Future is Now defeating The Osirian Portal at The Bobliographon event the following day. On the first show of 2010, Lince Dorado turned on Equinox and left the Future is Now to join the new heel stable Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (BDK). In May 2010, during the Aniversario weekend, Helios and Equinox first defeated Dorado and his BDK teammate Tim Donst in a tag team match and then won a four-team elimination match to earn the three points needed in order to challenge for the Campeonatos de Parejas. Helios and Equinox received their title shot on June 27 at Faded Scars and Lines, but were defeated by the defending champions BDK (Ares and Claudio Castagnoli) in two straight falls, after a pre–match assault. The Future is Now came to its end on September 19, 2010, when Olsen left the stable to re–form his old tag team with Colin Delaney. This event also marked Helios' final appearance for Chikara as he began working regularly for both Dragon Gate and Dragon Gate USA.

Evolve and Dragon Gate USA (2010–present)

On January 16, 2010, Ricochet would make his debut for Evolve at the company's debut show Evolve 1: Ibushi vs Richards in a winning effort against Arik Cannon. However Ricochet would lose at the next event on March 13, 210 at Evolve 2: Hero vs Hidaka to Chuck Taylor and again via countout on May 1, 2010 at Evolve 3: Rise Or Fall to Johnny Gargano. After being defeated by Drake Younger in a four-way match on July 23, Ricochet ended his losing streak on September 11, by defeating Kyle O'Reilly.

On July 24, 2010, Ricochet made his debut for Dragon Gate USA at Enter the Dragon 2010, being defeated by Chuck Taylor in a four–way match, which also included Arik Cannon and Adam Cole. At the following event on September 25, Ricochet teamed with Cima to defeat Speed Muscle (Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi) in a tag team match. After the match Cima gave Ricochet a spot in his Warriors International stable. The following day Ricochet defeated Gran Akuma in a singles match. On October 29 at Dragon Gate USA's first live pay-per-view, Bushido: Code of the Warrior, Ricochet wrestled in a four–way match, which was won by Chuck Taylor and also included Arik Cannon and Johnny Gargano. At the following day's tapings of Freedom Fight 2010, Ricochet teamed with his Warriors International stable mate Genki Horiguchi and Austin Aries in a six-man tag team match, where they were defeated by Ronin (Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann). When Dragon Gate USA returned on January 29, 2011, Ricochet now represented heel stable Blood Warriors and teamed with new stable mate Naruki Doi in the tournament to determine the first ever Open the United Gate Champions. In their first tournament match, Ricochet and Doi were defeated by Ronin representatives Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano. The following day Ricochet and Doi were defeated in the main event of the evening by the World–1 team of Masato Yoshino and Pac. On April 2 at Mercury Rising 2011, Ricochet, Cima and Naruki Doi defeated Ronin (Chuck Taylor, Johnny Gargano and Rich Swann) in the main event six man tag team match. During the match Ricochet suffered an ankle injury, which forced him out of the following day's match for the Open the United Gate Championship. On September 11 at Way of the Ronin 2011, Ricochet and Cima defeated Masato Yoshino and Pac to win the Open the United Gate Championship in a match, where Ricochet's and Cima's Open the Twin Gate Championship was also on the line. After the merger of Evolve and Dragon Gate USA, Ricochet took part in the final official professional wrestling match in the Asylum Arena, when he unsuccessfully challenged Johnny Gargano for the Open the Freedom Gate Championship at an Evolve event on January 14, 2012. On March 30, Ricochet and Cima were forced to vacate the Open the United Gate Championship, after Cima was sidelined with a neck injury. In the main event of the evening, Ricochet teamed with Masato Yoshino to defeat Chuck Taylor and Ricochet and regain the Open the United Gate Championship. On June 21, Ricochet and Yoshino were stripped of the title due to Yoshino being unable to appear at the following month's Dragon Gate USA events. On July 29, Ricochet teamed with Rich Swann in a match to determine the new Open the United Gate Champions. They were, however, defeated in the match by Cima and AR Fox. On November 2 at Fearless 2012, Ricochet was defeated by Fox in a Respect match and, as a result, was forced to tell his opponent that he respected him. Two days later at Freedom Fight 2012, Ricochet unsuccessfully challenged Johnny Gargano for the Open the Freedom Gate Championship in a four-way elimination match, which also included Akira Tozawa and AR Fox. On April 4, 2014, Ricochet defeated Gargano to win the Open the Freedom Gate Championship. On November 16, 2014, during Dragon Gate USA's parent company WWNLive's tour of China, Ricochet lost the title back to Gargano.

Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (2010–present)

On September 5, 2010, Ricochet made his debut for Southern California promotion Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, losing to Claudio Castagnoli in the first round of the 2010 Battle of Los Angeles, in what was called a "star making performance".

The following day Ricochet participated in a six-man tag team match, where he, Johnny Goodtime and Rocky Romero were defeated by Brian Cage, Chuck Taylor and Ryan Taylor, when Ricochet was pinned by his old rival, Chuck Taylor.

At the following event on October 9, Ricochet picked up a major victory over PWG World Tag Team Champion El Generico.

Ricochet returned to PWG on April 9, 2011, when he filled in for Paul London, who was unable to appear at the event, and teamed with El Generico in a match, where they lost their PWG World Tag Team Championship to The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson). Even though El Generico blamed Ricochet for the loss, the two teamed up once again on May 27, during the first night of All Star Weekend 8, when they were defeated by the Nightmare Violence Connection (Akira Tozawa and Kevin Steen). Ricochet returned to PWG on January 29, 2012, teaming with Cima in a match, where they were defeated by the RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime and Johnny Yuma).

Ricochet made another return to PWG on May 25, losing to El Generico in a grudge match main event.

On September 1, Ricochet entered the 2012 Battle of Los Angeles, defeating PWG World Champion Kevin Steen in his first round match, following a distraction from his rival Brian Cage. The following day, Ricochet defeated Roderick Strong in the quarter finals, before being eliminated by Michael Elgin in the semifinals of the tournament. On October 27, Ricochet unsuccessfully challenged Kevin Steen for the PWG World Championship in a three-way match, which also included Michael Elgin.

On January 12, 2013, Ricochet teamed up with Rich Swann for the 2013 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament. The team, dubbed "The Inner City Machine Guns", was eliminated in their first round match by The Young Bucks.

On August 9 at PWG's tenth anniversary event, the Inner City Machine Guns unsuccessfully challenged The Young Bucks for the PWG World Tag Team Championship in a three-way ladder match, which also included the DojoBros (Eddie Edwards and Roderick Strong).

On January 31, 2014, the Inner City Machine Guns made it to the finals of the 2014 Dynamite Duumvirate Tag Team Title Tournament, before losing to the Best Friends (Chuck Taylor and Trent?).

On August 31, Ricochet defeated Johnny Gargano and Roderick Strong in the finals to win the 2014 Battle of Los Angeles. As a result, Ricochet was granted a shot at the PWG World Championship, but was defeated by the defending champion, Kyle O'Reilly, on December 12.

On September 3, 2017, Ricochet defeated Jeff Cobb and Keith Lee in the finals to win the 2017 Battle of Los Angeles, becoming the first two-time winner of the tournament.

Dragon Gate (2010–2015)

Through his work in Dragon Gate USA, Ricochet got to make his first tour of Japan with its parent promotion Dragon Gate, making his debut on December 10, 2010, in Toyama, where he teamed with his Warriors stable mate Cima and Masaaki Mochizuki in a six tag team match, where they defeated Gamma, Kzy and Naruki Doi. Ricochet's first tour of Japan ended on December 26, when he, Cima and Dragon Kid defeated Naoki Tanisaki, Takuya Sugawara and Yasushi Kanda in Fukuoka at Final Gate 2010 to win the Dragon Gate Open the Triangle Gate Championship. Ricochet turned heel on January 14, 2011, along with the rest of Warriors, attacking Masato Yoshino and World–1, and joining forces with Naruki Doi's group. On January 18 the new group was named Blood Warriors. On February 10 Cima, Naruki Doi and Gamma defeated World–1 representatives Masato Yoshino, BxB Hulk and Susumu Yokosuka in a six-man tag team match and as a result, Pac was forced to leave World–1 and join Blood Warriors. However, Ricochet blocked the move as he felt that he, not Pac, was the top high flyer in the world and instead challenged him to a match for his Open the Brave Gate Championship. The title match between Pac and Ricochet took place on March 1 and ended with Pac retaining his title. On May 15, the rest of Blood Warriors turned on Dragon Kid and kicked him out of the group, despite the fact that he still held the Open the Triangle Gate Championship with Ricochet and Cima. As a result, the title was declared vacant. On July 17, Ricochet and Cima defeated Dragon Kid and Pac of rival group Junction Three to win the Open the Twin Gate Championship. On November 19, Ricochet defeated Pac for the Open the Brave Gate Championship. After their third successful defense of the Open the Twin Gate Championship on November 30, Ricochet and Cima vacated the title in order for Ricochet to concentrate on defending the Open the Brave Gate Championship and Cima to concentrate on chasing the Open the Dream Gate Championship. On January 19, 2012, Akira Tozawa took over the leadership of Blood Warrios, kicking Cima out of the group. After Ricochet continued to team with CIMA in Dragon Gate USA, it was announced on February 9, that he was also kicked out of Blood Warriors. On March 4, Ricochet and Cima decided to mutually split up, with Ricochet joining Masato Yoshino's and Naruki Doi's new World-1 International stable and Cima reviving the Veteran-gun. On May 6, Ricochet lost the Open the Brave Gate Championship to Dragon Kid in his fourth defense. On May 25, 2013, Ricochet defeated Shingo Takagi in the finals to win the 2013 King of Gate tournament. As a result, Ricochet earned a shot at the Open the Dream Gate Championship, but was defeated in the title match on June 16 by Cima. On July 21, Ricochet and Naruki Doi defeated Akira Tozawa and BxB Hulk for the Open the Twin Gate Championship. They lost the title to Dragon Kid and K-Ness on August 30. On September 12, Doi turned on Masato Yoshino, signaling the end of World-1 International. Ricochet quickly found a new alliance, forming Monster Express with Yoshino, Akira Tozawa, Shachihoko Boy, Shingo Takagi and Uhaa Nation. On March 2, 2014, Ricochet defeated Monster Express stablemate Masato Yoshino for the Open the Dream Gate Championship, becoming the first gaijin to hold the title. Ricochet made his first successful title defense just four days later against another stablemate, Uhaa Nation. After a two-month reign, Ricochet lost the Open the Dream Gate Championship to Yamato in his second defense on May 5. Ricochet returned to Dragon Gate during the summer of 2015. On July 20, he and Matt Sydal unsuccessfully challenged Naruki Doi and Yamato for the Open the Twin Gate Championship. He has not wrestled for Dragon Gate since.

New Japan Pro Wrestling (2013–present)

On May 3, 2013, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced Ricochet as a participant in the 2013 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. He made his debut for the promotion on May 22, teaming with Kenny Omega in a tag team match, where they defeated Suzuki-gun (Taichi and Taka Michinoku). In the round-robin portion of the tournament, which ran from May 24 to June 6, Ricochet managed to win five out of his eight matches with a loss against Alex Shelley on June 6, costing him a spot in the semifinals.

Ricochet returned to take part in the 2014 Best of the Super Juniors tournament on May 30, this time advancing to the semifinals, after finishing second in his block with a record of five wins and two losses. On June 8, Ricochet first defeated Ryusuke Taguchi in the semifinals and then Kushida in the finals to win the 2014 Best of the Super Juniors and become the number one contender to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. With his win, Ricochet became the youngest person to win the tournament and the second American to do so. On June 21 at Dominion 6.21, Ricochet unsuccessfully challenged Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.

On July 3, 2015, Ricochet made a surprise return to NJPW, challenging the winner of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match between Kenny Omega and Kushida, set to take place two days later, to a title match. Ricochet received his title match on August 16, but was defeated by Kushida. Ricochet returned to NJPW on October 24, when he and Matt Sydal entered the 2015 Super Jr. Tag Tournament, defeating Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida) in their first round match. On November 1, Ricochet and Sydal defeated The Young Bucks to advance to the finals of the tournament. On November 7 at Power Struggle, Ricochet and Sydal defeated Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) in the finals to win the 2015 Super Jr. Tag Tournament. On January 4, 2016, at Wrestle Kingdom 10 in Tokyo Dome, Ricochet and Sydal took part in a four-way match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, but were defeated by The Young Bucks. On February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka, Ricochet and Sydal defeated The Young Bucks and reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) in a three-way match to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. They lost the title to Roppongi Vice on April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016, before regaining the title on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2016. Later in the month, Ricochet entered the 2016 Best of the Super Juniors tournament. On May 27, Ricochet faced Will Ospreay in the tournament in a match, which received widespread attention in the professional wrestling world. While some like William Regal praised the two, others criticized the match with the most notable criticism coming from Vader, who compared the match to a "gymnastics routine". Ricochet finished the tournament with a record of four wins and three losses, failing to advance to the finals due to losing to Chase Owens in his final round-robin match. On June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall, Ricochet and Sydal lost the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship to The Young Bucks in a four-way elimination match, also involving reDRagon and Roppongi Vice.

On July 3, Ricochet and Sydal teamed up with Satoshi Kojima to defeat The Elite (Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks) for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. They were stripped of the title on September 25 due to Sydal failing to make a scheduled title defense at Destruction in Kobe because of travel issues. That same day, Ricochet and Kojima, now teaming with David Finlay, defeated Adam Cole and The Young Bucks to regain the vacant title. This led to a match on October 10 at King of Pro-Wrestling, where Ricochet and Finlay unsuccessfully challenged The Young Bucks for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Ricochet, Finlay and Kojima lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship to Los Ingobernables de Japon (Bushi, Evil and Sanada) in a four-team gauntlet match at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2017. Afterwards, Ricochet joined the Taguchi Japan stable as part of which he, Ryusuke Taguchi and Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon on April 4 to win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship. On April 29, Ricochet unsuccessfully challenged Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2017, Ricochet, Tanahashi and Taguchi lost the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship back to L.I.J. Ricochet then entered the 2017 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, where, despite a win over reigning IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi, he failed to advance to the finals with a record of four wins and three losses.

Ricochet then formed a new tag team named "Funky Future" with Ryusuke Taguchi under the banner of Taguchi Japan. On August 13, the two defeated The Young Bucks to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.

Lucha Underground (2014–2016)

In September 2014, it was reported that Mann had signed with the El Rey network's new television series, Lucha Underground. He assumed a masked character by the ring name of Prince Puma. He was given a fictional Latino background and managed by Konnan, with him doing most of the talking on his behalf. Puma wrestled in the main event of the debut episode of Lucha Underground on October 29, losing to Johnny Mundo. On the January 7, 2015, episode (taped October 5, 2014), Puma defeated 19 other wrestlers to win the Aztec Warfare battle royal and become the inaugural Lucha Underground Champion. Puma made his first televised defense of the Lucha Underground Championship on the January 14, 2015, episode of Lucha Underground against Fénix. Puma then entered a rivalry with Cage, which led to a title match between the two on the March 25 episode, where Puma retained his title. On April 19 at Ultima Lucha, Lucha Underground's season one finale, Puma lost the Lucha Underground Championship to Mil Muertes. After failing to regain the title, he formed a team with El Dragon Azteca Jr. and Rey Mysterio Jr. and entered a tournament for the Trios championship. After defeating the team which consisted of Taya and two of Puma's old adversaries Cage, and Johnny Mundo, in a qualifying match, they captured the titles last eliminating Fenix, PJ Black, and Jack Evans in the finals.

Mann had originally signed a contract with Lucha Underground, which gave him an out following the conclusion of the program's third season. With WWE reportedly looking to sign him, Lucha Underground offered Mann a new contract, which would have allowed him to continue working NJPW and the indies and would have made him "one of the highest paid non-WWE talents in the business". Mann, however, decided to opt out of his contract. On June 26, 2016, at the third season concluding Ultima Lucha Tres, Prince Puma challenged Johnny Mundo for the Lucha Underground Championship in a match, where he put his Lucha Underground career on the line. Though Puma won the match and the title, he was immediately afterwards challenged by Gift of the Gods Champion Pentagón Dark, with Dario Cueto stating that the loser of the match would be forced to retire. Pentagón won the match and the Lucha Underground Championship with help from Vampiro, ending Prince Puma's Lucha Underground career. Though Mann's Lucha Underground contract had expired, he could not appear on television for another promotion until season three had been aired in its entirety. Mann later commented on his status, stating that an "underground fighting company holding [him] back" was the reason he had not yet been signed by a "major promotion".

Personal life

Mann is in a relationship with fellow professional wrestler Tessa Blanchard. As of April 2016, the two lived together with Sesugh Uhaa (the former Uhaa Nation and currently Apollo Crews in WWE), in Orlando, Florida.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments