5 reasons why Ricochet lasted only 1.5 minutes against Brock Lesnar at WWE Super ShowDown 2020

That was underwhelming. Early this month, Ricochet defeated Bobby Lashley and Seth Rollins to earn a WWE Championship opportunity against Brock Lesnar at WWE Super ShowDown 2020.

While we all knew that Drew McIntyre's WrestleMania 36 announcement confirmed the match against Lesnar, the expectation was that Ricochet would get some offense in. After all, the past 3 editions of Survivor Series proved that Lesnar works best with smaller opponents (AJ Styles in 2017, Daniel Bryan in 2018, and Rey Mysterio in 2019).

Moreover, Ricochet has been pushed as one of the fastest-rising stars of Monday Night RAW - poised to be a main eventer down the line. Instead, his first major World Championship opportunity - the "biggest match of his career", ended in a minute.

There was a lot of disappointment right away and this is going to be one of those matches where people realize that WWE could have done so much more. A whole promo package was played about how Ricochet couldn't and wouldn't beat Brock Lesnar, only for him to lose in a minute? Here are 5 reasons why it happened.

#5. To not have the show drag on for too long

One of the issues with major WWE PPVs these days (particularly the big 4) is the overall runtime. Since PPVs are now in the Network, the entire PPV model has almost been disbanded. As a result, WWE doesn't need to worry about running overtime and WrestleMania has suffered in recent years for going on too long.

That simply seems to be the way things are now and since Super ShowDown is a big stadium show, WWE tends to go longer for it as well. In order to cut out time and fit in other matches, the idea would have likely been to have a quick squash of Ricochet.

#4. The "credibility" factor

Realistically speaking, size does matter. In combat sports like MMA, Boxing, and others, weight classes exist for a reason. In the UFC, Lesnar was in the Heavyweight division, where he even won the UFC Heavyweight Championship.

While wrestling is admittedly different and a big man-small man dynamic working out well is what makes it so great, WWE perhaps wanted to try something different and give it a more realistic feel to it.

And the reality is that Lesnar's size, power, and athleticism would be far too much for someone of Ricochet's size. If you look at it from that perspective, it's not too bad, but when Ricochet cut a promo in the video package about how nobody believes he can win, the least WWE could have done is give him a great showing and then fall short. Nobody expected or wanted Ricochet to win, but there could have been a better way to go about it.

The big question is as to whether Ricochet will be able to recover heading into WrestleMania 36.

#3. Ricochet is nowhere near on that level

Ricochet is still one of the fastest-rising stars on the roster. All the rumors and backstage talk have indicated that he is a part of Paul Heyman's "list" of superstars that he intends to push on RAW, including the likes of Aleister Black, Drew McIntyre, Buddy Murphy, etc.

We must remember that since we praise Paul Heyman for all the good he does on RAW, he should get flak for this as well since this was likely a decision that had his input on it. However, this may have been a harsh reminder to fans that no matter how quick Ricochet is climbing the ladder, he's nowhere near on the level of Brock Lesnar.

That was evident from the time the match was made. Regardless of who Lesnar faced at Super ShowDown, he would have been expected to win. However, Ricochet seemed like a bit of an odd choice and it appeared a bit premature to give him that spot. Hopefully, it only gets better for him.

#2. Part of a story arc

There have been many cases in the past that has proved that no matter how atrocious WWE's booking can be, all it takes is a few good weeks and one great night for a superstar to regain all of their steam.

Take Bayley in 2019, for example. She was a failing babyface who was virtually irrelevant and a move to SmackDown proved to be a huge boost for her and she started to gain some momentum. At Money in the Bank 2019, she won the briefcase and cashed in that same night, becoming SmackDown Women's Champion.

Except for a few days in between, Bayley has been holding the title for a long time now and it could be something better with Ricochet. Losing to Lesnar could be a part of building his personality - something that he admittedly lacks.

To get the crowd behind him, he needs a solid character and this one-minute loss could be one of the things that can set him on a new character arc.

#1. To build him up bigger for Drew McIntyre

The main event of WrestleMania 36 will be Brock Lesnar vs Drew McIntyre. It's surreal to see the Scotsman in that spot and nobody can claim that he doesn't deserve it. He gained a lot of steam over the past few months, picking up a hot streak without many noticing.

His time came at the Royal Rumble 2020 and he didn't take any time to decide which Champion he would face. Ultimately, the idea is to get Drew McIntyre over as WWE's top babyface and WrestleMania 36 at Tampa is expected to be his coronation.

While Lesnar doesn't need anything to prove his credibility, it will help McIntyre in the long run if Lesnar is built as an even bigger threat heading into their match. Unfortunately for Ricochet, he was likely just the sacrificial lamb to help get Drew McIntyre over.

Not that Ricochet's time won't come. He simply isn't in that stage just yet. As we've seen with McIntyre - good things take time.