Throughout the history of professional wrestling, there have been quite a few superstars that have been more than happy to wear their love of anime on their sleeves. Wrestlers such as the New Day, Zelina Vega, Mercedes Mone, and Rhea Ripley have walked into the ring wearing gear patterned after major anime universes. One of the biggest wrestlers who loves anime is Ricochet, with the superstar recently making the jump from World Wrestling Entertainment to All Elite Wrestling. To promote his new look, Ricochet has shared a new image of himself wearing a coat that might be familiar to One Piece fans and solidifies the wrestler’s current status as a heel.
One of Ricochet’s most notable nods to anime was when he entered the ring wearing a full-suit recreation of All Might’s costume from My Hero Academia during his WWE tenure. To help push his current status as a major villain of All Elite, Ricochet has worn a jacket patterned after Naruto’s Akatsuki and worn a badge to look more like Attack on Titan’s Eren Jaeger. In the new image, the superstar is wearing the coat of a One Piece admiral, the high-ranking military members who have been a major thorn in the Straw Hat Pirates’ side. You can check out the new look for the AEW superstar below.
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The Horrible Admirals of One Piece
While each of the World Government’s admirals is terrifyingly powerful in their own right, there is one military man who has become hated by One Piece fans. Akainu, aka Sakazuki, killed Ace in one of the most tear-jerking moments of the franchise during the Marineford Arc and fans are still reeling from this beat years later. To wear an admiral’s uniform is to ask for hatred and Ricochet certainly is living up to his current heel status.
Fans are still waiting for Luffy to have a rematch with Sakazuki but another admiral is currently stepping up to the plate. Monkey and his Gear Fifth transformation are currently tackling the admiral named Kizaru, having a tricky time combating his light-based powers. With Future Island also seeing the arrival of Saturn of the Five Elders, the Straw Hats have their work cut out for them in this final saga that is looking to wrap the long-running shonen franchise.
The WWE Anime That Never Was
While there have been wrestling anime like Kinnikuman in the past, World Wrestling Entertainment announced a partnership with Crunchyroll in 2021 to create their own anime adaptation. Unfortunately, the partnership never saw any series come to life as fans are still waiting to see if any wrestling organization will make an anime series.
Want to see how the worlds of professional wrestling and anime collide in the future? Follow along with Team Anime and Team Wrestling on ComicBook.com for the latest updates and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime and hit us up in the comments.
