An in-depth chat with the newest WWE talent.
Coming off the heels of the 2/18 NXT, it is official that Ricky Starks is now a part of the WWE talent roster and he is going by ‘Ricky Saints.’
He did his first interview as a WWE talent on Busted Open After Dark with Bully Ray. Along the way, Saints addressed what went wrong with his AEW run. He commented on the public saying it had to do with him being at the 2023 Royal Rumble and Saints said he left after the first match. He said he was just visiting a friend because the event was not far from him.
He then addressed those who link how the backend of his AEW run turned out to him being shown cheering on Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania XL. Saints stated that Tony Khan was okay with him being there. He does not know exactly when things fell apart, but it could have been when CM Punk was fired and Saints said he’d probably agree with that or if people wanted to say it’s because he did not protect himself politically.
Saints was injured in March 2024. He took some precautions and then he was fine, but was never brought back. He added that there was no communication and confirms he eventually asked for his release. Saints said he was never against ideas or unwilling to do business. He feels things probably turned out how they did for personal reasons because if it was a professional reason, it would not have unfolded how it did.
He closed by saying there were veterans there that ‘stuck their nose’ in his creative business and if those people have an issue with his comments, they can message him.
There are situations that arise that — let me say this: There could be a bunch of things that kind of culminated, right? I don’t know the specifics of what it was. Some people, you ask the internet, ‘It was because you were at the Rumble.’ First of all, screw you. The footage got leaked for me being at the Rumble. I wasn’t backstage. I was just simply backstage visiting someone who was an hour away and not only that, I left after the first match, okay? Some could say, ‘Well, you were at Mania in a suite and you got on camera cheering.’ Screw you. You’re an idiot with no friends and no passion in life if you think the damnedest thing that I’ve done is cheering somebody on at another company. ‘Well, bad optics.’ You’re blind. You don’t know what you’re talking about because my boss was okay with it. Okay, I’ve already said this before. He was already okay with it. I can’t tell you exactly what the moment was. You could say it was (CM) Punk leaving and things kind of fell apart. Absolutely. I’d probably agree with you on that. Or you could say it’s that Ricky didn’t play the politics well enough. Okay, for sure… (Bully Ray asked if there are a lot of politics in AEW) I’m not saying there’s a lot of — just as much as any other company probably. But you could say that I maybe didn’t protect myself in that way. There’s so many things that you can say. What I can say for myself is that when I got hurt in March, that was it. I never came back, and even then, I wasn’t hurt, it was a precaution thing where I got scared because I got a stinger… And then I was fine. After that, no. No dice. No communication, no nothing and that is okay because if someone was mad at me — and the reason I say it was okay because I ended up here and it’s fine. Everything worked out. I don’t know explicitly where it went wrong. I can’t point to one thing. I can say that it was a storm of things probably. Did I do something that may have tipped them off? Sure. Asking for my release whenever — this past whenever. That could have been about it. But never once was I not willing to do something, never once was I sabotaging anything. What I think it probably was, if you give me that point is there were probably things said to him from other people maybe. I don’t know. Gun to my head, educated guess what it was?… It was probably personal. It probably was personal because if it was professional, it wouldn’t have happened this way. That’s how I believe it, and that’s not to disparage anybody there. Just so we’re clear, I already know how this is gonna be taken. There’s nothing disparaging for me to say. What I am saying is the truth that I don’t know exactly what it was and if you point to those two times that I was caught on footage at WWE, I can tell you you’re wrong. I can tell you you’re wrong. Some people could say, ‘Well, we could tell he was phoning it in.’ Bullsh*t. There’s never a match of mine in my entire career that I gave less than 1,000 percent. You can jump off a cliff with that opinion because it’s not even real. Don’t disrespect me and say that I gave something less than 1,000 percent. It’s not in my bones, there’s no part of my body that I am capable of doing that. So, it is what it is, right? There are situations that will probably pop up again when it comes to, let’s say, politicking, and guys putting their nose in businesses that doesn’t belong. I will say this: There are some people who stuck their nose in my creative business that shouldn’t have happened… Veterans (were the ones doing that), and that’s it and I’ma leave it at that and if they got a problem with me, they got my number, and text me about it. So, with that being said, I’m glad to be here (in NXT).
I think what it was is that if it didn’t work for their creative, then someone had to get the boot. You get what I’m saying? That’s how I see it. But I’m not trying to be negative in my thought process about it. But I do think that for sure and that is okay, that’s fine. If you want to step on me to get ahead in your illustrious career — everyone has an illustrious career, everyone should have an illustrious career — that is perfectly fine. But, at the same time, I’m not wet behind the ears.
Saints further spoke about asking for his release. He was of the mindset that nothing was happening, so they should part ways and he wanted to do it quietly. He said then all of a sudden, his information was made public.
It’s like trying to find love in the same place that you lost it. It’s just not possible. It’s not possible. At a certain point, it’s not possible anymore. At a certain point, you have to be honest with yourself and that’s where I was at with it… No (it was not scary asking for AEW release) and I’ma tell you why: Any decision I make, I’ve already gone through the consequences of it in my head. I have always betted on myself. I betted on myself with NWA, when I left. I betted on myself with this situation. I will always bet on myself, I will always think highly of myself, okay? I have gotten here. 14 years, on my own. Didn’t have a hand out nor a name to put a good word in for me. Everything was done by me, by myself and that’s how it’s gonna be until I’m dead. So, no, it wasn’t scary. What it was-was this was just at the point where it only made sense to me. ‘Hey, nothing’s happening. Let’s just be done. Let’s just quietly be done’ and then for some reason, all my information gets leaked.
Circling over to his arrival to NXT, Saints explained his new name:
It’s just a throwback to — it’s not even a throwback because New Orleans Saints were still around but, Saints in itself is pretty indicative of New Orleans regardless if you think of the football team, if you think of the French influence, things of that nature and its as close as you’re gonna get to Starks. So, I like the name. I know a lot of people are gonna be — it’s gonna take time for them to get used to it and I respect that they care so deeply about me, that they rebel against the name change. But, at the same time, I am a product of New Orleans first and foremost and I want to pay respects to that as well and so, that’s what it was.
It would have been different if I was named, you know, Ricky Genevieve or something like that, right?… Yes, something so off or if my whole thing was changed but, I think this is the best of both worlds and something that means a lot to me too. Obviously, I think it’s cool to have a piece of home with me and the person doesn’t change. I’m still that guy. So it is what it is.
Saints arrived to WWE on February 11th. He said it was not hard to keep it a secret and the only person who knew was his mother.
He signed his NXT contract in the ring on February 18th and shared that it was on that same day eight years ago when he had his WWE tryout. Saints further spoke about his debut and explained why he just wanted it to be over.
It was very easy (to keep quiet about my NXT arrival). I’m a very naturally — I keep to myself type guy. I was worried about other people saying something which, I mean, not a lot of people knew. My family didn’t know. Well, that’s a lie. I’m lying. My mom knew but, that’s a given. So, you know, I thought it was good to have an old school type of surprise, especially in this day and age. Everything is out there.
Here’s a funny story: Today is eight years ago that I had my tryout. Today. Eight years ago… And so, I had thought about that last week when I popped up and… it’s hard to really explain because I’ve been through such a mind — you know, a mind craze that I didn’t know what I was expecting and I didn’t know what I was gonna feel. I will say this: When I went out there, natural. I’ve heard so many people tell me, ‘Man, when you’re in the ring, it just looks natural to you. When you’re holding the microphone, it just looks natural’ and I think I’m starting to believe this is what I should’ve been doing, this is what I’m supposed to be doing. So going out there in front of the crowd and then hearing the reaction go (up & up & up) and people are like, ‘Woah! Wait a minute.’ I couldn’t have imagined it any better. Though I will tell you, I was ready to get it over with. I was ready to get it over with. Just rip it off, please. Because, it was too much. You know, I’m a very passionate person and I’m filled with a lot of emotions and that is my superpower. The genuine emotion I have. You can always tell. It was so concentrated, that it wasn’t nervousness or anything. I was so just concentrated in my gut with pure emotion, I was like, please God, let’s just get this done. I enjoyed it! But I hope you understand what I’m saying.
His official in-ring debut for the brand is happening on their 2/25 show in Cincinnati, Ohio. He’ll be teaming with Je’Von Evans to take on Wes Lee and Ethan Page.
