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Ricky Saints talks new NXT name, says veterans in AEW ‘stuck their nose’ in his creative

Posted: Feb 19th 2025 By: Bryan Rose

Ricky Starks opened up about his new name and his ideas on what led to his AEW departure.

Talking to Busted Open Radio shortly after NXT went off the air, Starks talked about his new name that was revealed on Tuesday’s show, Ricky Saints. He explained that while he knows it will take time to get used to, he likes paying tribute to his home city.

“It’s as close as you’re going to get to Starks. I like the name. I know a lot of people are going to be…it’s going to take time for them to get used to it,” he said. “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 respect to that as well. I think this is the best of both worlds and that means a lot to me. 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.”

Bully Ray then gave him the floor to talk about his departure from AEW. Saints first addressed speculation by denying that it was due to appearances at the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania while under AEW contract, saying that his boss (Tony Khan at the time) was okay with it.

“I don’t know the specifics of what it was. Some people, you ask the internet, it was because you were at the Rumble. Screw you. The footage got leaked from me being at the Rumble. I wasn’t backstage…I left after the first match. 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 damndest thing I’ve done is cheering somebody on in another company…my boss was okay with it.”

“I can’t tell you exactly what the moment was. You could say it was Punk leaving and things kinda fell apart. Absolutely, I probably agree with you on that, alright? Or you could say is that Ricky didn’t play the politics well enough. Alright, for sure…there’s so many things you can say,” he continued. “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 as I had a stinger. Then I was fine. After that, no, no dice, no communication. No nothing. And that is 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 it was a storm of things probably. Did I do something that may have tipped them off? Sure, asking for my release whenever you know, this past whatever, that could have been about it right? But never once was I not willing to do something, never once was I sabotaging anything.”

Ray asked if he felt it was a personal or a professional reason for the release. Saints said it was probably personal because if it was professional, his departure wouldn’t have happened this way.

“I will say this, there are some people who stuck their nose in my creative business that shouldn’t have happened,” Saints said. “Veterans. And that’s it, I’ll leave it at that. And if they got a problem with me, they got my number. And text me about it. I think what it was is if it didn’t work for their creative, then someone had to get the boot. That’s how I see it. But I’m not trying to be negative in my thought process about it…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 my ears.”

Saints will have his first NXT match next week when the brand heads to Cincinnati. He will team with Je’Von Evans to take on Ethan Page and Wes Lee.