Fans were legitimately shocked to see former AEW star Ricky Starks show up in WWE NXT last week, and they were also surprised that he didn’t make an appearance at Vengeance Day over the weekend. Instead, they would have to wait until this week’s NXT to hear from him as he signed his NXT contract, and fans were hoping for an answer to the largest question surrounding his next chapter in WWE, which was what his name would be moving forward. Fans did get that answer, and it will likely surprise you.
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Ricky Starks was what he went by in AEW, but in his surprise NXT debut, his name was never said out loud, which was purposeful. Tonight it was mostly the same until the very end of the segment. After some chaos involving Ethan Page and Wes Lee, Ricky signs the contract, and then as the camera zooms in on the contract, it shows the name to be Ricky Saints.
This whole segment started after Ricky was brought out by Ava Raine to sign the contract, and Saints delivered a promo to the fans before signing, letting them know how thrilled he was to be in NXT and how he wanted to be a part of every aspect of it.
“People talk about making it in NXT is the dream, for me it’s reality. Standing right here is reality,” Saints said. “Main eventing every NXT PLE, that’s reality. Winning the NXT Championship, that’s reality baby. And the absolute truth about all of this is that I’m the man in NXT. And I am going to do what I do always to the best of my ability because right now, the revolution begins.”
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The contract signing was interrupted by Ethan Page, who did compliment Ricky but also then told him he shouldn’t be copying Ethan Page because there’s only one. Page then pointed out his previous contract signing, where he worked in a Championship match into the deal against Trick Williams.
Ricky and Ethan went back and forth a bit until Ethan insulted Je’Von Evans, saying he couldn’t even leave the house to be here, and right on cue Evans rushed out to attack Page and run him off, throwing him over the barricade.
Saints went to sign the contract but was cut off again, this time by Wes Lee. Lee said he wouldn’t hold things against Saints since he’s new, but that there’s an actual process in how they do things here. After a war of words, Saints even said he’d give him a match next week, but then Lee tried to sucker punch him, only to get clocked in the face by Saints and clotheslined over the ropes to the floor.
Saints finally signed his contract, making him an official part of the WWE NXT roster, and now we’ll have to wait and see what is next for him as he starts his WWE journey.
What do you think of the name change? Let us know in the comments, and as always you can talk all things wrestling with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!
