It’s weird that WWE’s promoting Ricochet crowdfunding a house for his mother

When Ricochet launched a GoFundMe last week to raise money toward helping his mother rebuild after a fire destroyed her home, I didn’t really have much of an opinion on the matter. His description of the fundraising drive was very thoughtful, stressing that it was more about sending a message of love & support to his family, and that the goal wasn’t so much to buy a new house as it was to help her rebuild her life.

It all seemed like a more than fair way for a guy fresh out of developmental to use his hard-earned fame to repay someone who sacrificed so he could chase his dreams.

Should talents based out of the Performance Center make more than the $50K - $150K a recent report says they do? I’d think so, but I’m an outsider with limited knowledge of the company’s books. I also think baseball minor leaguers should be assured a living wage, and college athletes should receive a share of the profits the institutions they represent make off their talents, and... it’s a big messy world where the rich get richer and the little people are rarely treated fairly and - just me personally? I have to pick what I get too upset about or I’ll have ulcers.

And I’m not #outraged to see WWE writing stories and tweeting about Ricochet’s campaign. But that is weird, right?

A billion dollar company using the fact someone under contract to them needs help from their customers to help his mother? And Ric isn’t just some guy working the Florida house show circuit. He was a major signing, promoted to the main roster within a year of joining the company, who just performed in front of tens of thousands of people at an event you touted as the most lucrative in the history of the venue. The optics of WWE promoting that he’s asking for dollars from their fans seems off, no?

To be fair, the company’s articles and tweets about Ricochet’s efforts only came after other NXT Superstars & alumni joined the cause, setting up an eBay page where they’ll be auctioning off donated memorabilia to raise money for The Ricochet Family Fund. It gives it the feel good, we’re all in this together vibe they’ve been working to establish for their developmental system with things like the WWEPC YouTube channel.

And the company’s promotion is helping, too. The GoFundMe and the eBay auction will get a lot more attention and raise more money with WWE boosting their signals.

But something about it still feels off. Maybe it’s that Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon’s “philanthropy is the future of marketing” credo colors WWE’s every publicly done good deed? Perhaps it’s because it comes so soon after HBO’s John Oliver lambasted the company for not treating their wrestlers like full employees (a controversy which has largely already blown over, as the realists and cynics among us predicted it would)?

Let us know what you think below, Cagesiders. And if you’re able and inclined to send a few bucks to Ricochet’s family, or are just in the market for some signed merch, head here to make a donation, or here to bid on some gear.