Ricky Saint (Ricky Starks in AEW) made a surprise appearance on the February 11th episode of NXT, a day after he was removed from the AEW website, signifying his release from the company.
Saints was not named on television, but fans knew who he was.
“It was a very quick turnaround. People think that was days in advance,” Saints told Cameron Hawkins of The Ringer. “I had never spoken to WWE at all before any of that. I never got on the phone with anyone before that, blah, blah, blah. So all of that, when I say it happened so fast, it happened so fast and it never let up off the gas.”
Saints noted that his friends Cody Rhodes, Jade Cargill, Allie Katch, and "some personnel people text me from AEW" texted to congratulate him after his NXT debut.
Saints had won the DEFY World Championship on February 7th and had been making consistent independent appearances while off AEW television.
“I remember going to House of Glory and doing the meet-and-greet and had so many people tell me, ‘I just want to see you happy. I just want to see you on TV again. I just want to see you,’” Ricky said. "I remember just really crying because I was so moved by these people, and they didn’t understand at the time why it meant so much.”
Saints had been off AEW television for nearly a year before his departure from the company.
He's already found success in NXT, capturing the NXT North American Championship from Shawn Spears on April 1st.
