Just seven months into his NXT career, Ricochet is still reconciling that he is in a place he never thought he would be: WWE.

It's not that Ricochet, 29-year-old Trevor Mann, did not believe in himself or his abilities, it's just that WWE looked a lot different when he made his first steps into the industry before he was even legally allowed to drive.

"When I first started wrestling, I didn't start wrestling [thinking] I would be in WWE one day," Ricochet told CBS Sports this week. "Especially at that time. It was the land of the giants and stuff. I never thought that I would be here, especially when I first started. But it's a dream come true."

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The Paducah, Kentucky, native first stepped into the squared circle at age 14. He wrestled his first match on his 15th birthday. Yet despite his truly insane athletic ability and fast-developing unique style, it took nearly a decade for him to believe that he could not only succeed as a professional wrestler but make a living performing for fans across the globe.

"Even then," Ricochet admits, "I didn't necessarily think I would make it to the WWE. I did think I could make a good living doing it. Eventually, I did realize maybe I can make something out of this."

While WWE remains the king of the mountain in pro wrestling -- or sports entertainment, as WWE chairman Vince McMahon prefers it be called -- the landscape outside the behemoth is rapidly growing, and Ricochet was one of the juggernauts who helped it along.

Making stops with such companies as Evolve, Dragon Gate, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Lucha Underground, Ricochet fought a who's who of top-tier "independent" (read: non-WWE) wrestlers, many of whom have found their way to WWE and NXT (the company's developmental brand) over the last few years.

Just to name a few, though some went under different names, Ricochet has run through a litany of talents -- Cesaro, Kota Ibushi, Johnny Gargano, Adam Cole, Sami Zayn, The Young Bucks, Roderick Strong, Keith Lee, Kenny Omega, Will Ospreay and Rey Mysterio, Jr. -- on his way to WWE. But it's those last two that stuck in his mind and those of fans over the years.

Ricochet's had a few mark-out moments already in his career, including winning Best of Super Juniors in NJPW and getting a shout-out from The Rock on social media after signing with WWE. But his first match with Mysterio, an icon and one of his all-time favorite wrestlers, has stuck with him to this day.

Most appreciate Ricochet's unique, high-flying ability. Many believe he and Ospreay are the two best in the world at thrilling crowds with their athleticism, clever moves and match style. But that's not to say the two lack critics.

In fact, following a May 27 match in the 2016 NJPW Best of Super Juniors tournament, a number of fans and former wrestlers criticized Ricochet and Ospreay for a match they believed was more of a "gymnastics routine" -- so said WWE legend Vader, who recently died on June 18 -- than a showcase in-ring performance.

Not among the critics? Legendary wrestler and current NXT on-screen general manager William Regal, who also serves as WWE's director of talent development and head of global recruiting.

"I watched the match and was shocked," Regal began in an extended statement on Twitter that has been edited here for clarity. "'You need to start doing real stuff like people from my era like kip ups, flying head scissors, cartwheels and criss-crosses.' Get a grip!

"When I started the job in '83, a lot of the older fellas used to say that Marc Rocco and Marty Jones (who were the real pioneers of the cruiserweight style) had killed the business because they did to much. Although they may not admit it anymore, most of the heavyweights in Europe thought the brilliant lightweight and middleweight wrestlers were bad for the job because their style was 'not believable enough.'

"Every country I worked in before I came to the [United States] had different styles and ways of doing things. As long as there's effort then it's right. If the people paying you are happy and you get reactions then make your stuff as good as it can be with what skills you have. May not be for everyone, but that's OK. In the match I saw, two fellas who looked like fighters [had] an excellent, hard competed match in a different style. Win-win!"

Ricochet was not necessarily angered by the backlash from the vocal minority. Rather, he was surprised considering how widely praised the match was by modern fans.

"I wouldn't say [I was] 'offended,' but sometimes I just don't understand people's points of view, I guess. Everyone has their own point of view, but sometimes I just don't understand it. Wrestling can be anything," he explained. "… There's some forms of wrestling that I'm not too big a fan of, but I'm not going to say it's not wrestling because it is wrestling.

"Wrestling can be as much or as little as you want it to be. Everyone likes different movies, different music, different colors. They have a right to their opinion, but to say, 'This isn't wrestling,' well, yeah, it is. That's the only thing that I cared about. People are going to like what they like, and they're going to be vocal about what they don't like."

Suffice to say, the only noise being heard nowadays when Ricochet steps in the ring is raucous cheers ... at least when fans' jaws aren't dropping to the floor in amazement at his feats in and out of the squared circle.

In his NXT debut on WrestleMania 34 weekend at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans -- during a six-man ladder match for the newly-introduced North American championship -- Ricochet hit a springboard shooting star press off the top rope and onto waiting bodies below. He flipped off a falling ladder as if he had done it a million times before. Weeks later, he somersaulted out of the ring and onto the entrance ramp to stare down his upcoming challenger, the talented and charismatic 22-year-old Velveteen Dream.

Despite Dream's young age and relative inexperience, he and Ricochet put on a tremendous 22-minute match in June at NXT TakeOver: Chicago II that will clearly be the first of numerous times they will meet over their long, respective careers. Ricochet took the victory that evening and has catapulted himself into his first title opportunity with WWE this coming Saturday at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn IV (7 p.m. ET, WWE Network).

Ricochet is set to face Cole for the very North American championship that Cole won in that aforementioned ladder match four months ago. Whether a title change is in the plans remains to be seen, but it would not be any bit of a surprise if these two stole the show.

Whether Ricochet expected his WWE transition to be as smooth as it has been to this point, fans have embraced him immediately and are clearly happy to go along for the ride with the man now dubbed, "The One and Only."

One reason why? He's been granted the opportunity to simply be himself. There's not much difference between WWE's Ricochet and Prince Puma in Lucha Underground or the man who stole the show for PWG in Los Angeles or NJPW in Tokyo.

It is for that reason that Ricochet thumbs his nose at the assumption by some that moving to WWE from the independent scene will somehow take the wind out of the sails of wrestlers who enjoy being in control of their character and storylines elsewhere. That is not an experience he has encountered since joining NXT and training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

"My biggest concern [in joining WWE] was character development and all that stuff because that's something I never got to do. I was always the 'dream match' guy. I was never really put in any stories. So that was the biggest concern, and how I can adjust to that," Ricochet explained.

"There's also a misconception, and not really with me because I don't feel this way, but from fans. 'Oh, don't go there. They're going to water you down. They're not going to let you be yourself.' And it's like, well, [that's ridiculous]. Triple H and Shawn Michaels and all those guys are more than happy to let me be myself. They want me to do my thing.

"That was not a big worry of mine, per se, but I remember a lot of people saying that. Since I've been here, everyone's been so cool. It's been awesome."

Despite being just 29, Ricochet is a 14-year industry veteran who has clearly been a quick study in the character development aspect of his gig. While some may hope he sticks around NXT for a while, if his career trajectory is anything like his in-ring style, it won't be long before he shoots to the top of WWE.