After making his first appearance on WWE television on NXT last week, the former AEW star Ricky Starks has officially signed with the company and his new name has been revealed. After an extended absence from television capped off his All Elite Wrestling contract, the 'Absolute' star hadn't been seen on TV in nearly a year prior to his surprise appearance on NXT. With a pre-announced segment to sign his WWE contract in the ring live on The CW, speculation swirled regarding his name.

With plenty of hype going into the segment, fans knew that the wrestler formerly known in AEW as Ricky Starks would be doing an on-air contract g. However, the piece that remained a complete mystery was whether he was actually going to be referred to as his literal name, “Ricky Starks”. Oftentimes, it is customary for stars entering WWE to see their names changed away from independent circuit names, even if the moniker is their actual government name.

As was the case with Ricky Starks, who caused the internet to go wild with speculation about for the entire week between broadcasts. Certainly helping to fuel speculation, WWE filed trademarks for 12 totally random ring names but none of which sounded as though they were actually for Ricky Starks. Saving his contract segment until the top of the second hour of broadcast, he was continually referred to with his nickname ‘Absolute’ but never by actual name.

Ricky Signs On The Dotted Line In NXT With A New Name...

Ricky Saints Pays Homage To His Heritage

In the contract g segment, the ‘hottest free agent in professional wrestling’ continued to maintain the mystery through multiple interruptions. All Ego Ethan Page, another AEW defector, interrupted the g segment to note that while he respected Ricky’s plans, the road he was traveling had been paved by Page himself. Before their altercation could move further, however, Page was attacked by Je’Von Evans and the pair brawled out of the scene.

Ricky still wasn’t able to sign his NXT contract, however, as the newest member of the locker room was ed by an NXT veteran - Wes Lee. While the pair went back and forth, it was agreed that they would square off next week on NXT. When Lee tried to get in a cheap shot, instead Ricky sent him over the top rope of the ring and was shown g his NXT contract. The camera getting a tight shot of the contract revealed the star’s new name - Ricky Saints.

In an interview with Bully Ray for Busted Open Radio, Saints opened up about the origins of his new WWE name as an opportunity to pay homage to his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana. Reassuring fans that he was happy they felt ionately about needing to change his name, he was happy to carry a piece of home with him in his new name. Noting that the person hadn't changed, simply the name had, Saints still exudes the same cool confidence as ever.

It's just a throwback, it's not really a throwback because the New Orleans Saints are still around, but Saints in itself is pretty indicative of New Orleans, regardless if you think of the football team or the French influence and things of that nature.

Saints' New Name Parallels His Moving On From A Dramatic Time In AEW

Ricky Saints Believes There Was A Personal Element To His Departure From AEW

In the same interview that saw Saints explain the origin of his name, when Bully Ray opened up the floor for him to address his AEW departure, and a fascinating bit of information was revealed. According to Saints, he still doesn't know why he was off of television for the remainder of his contract with the company.

He went on to reveal that there was certainly a feeling of a "personal" element to the way things went down, beyond that which was just professional. While he shared that he was out briefly due to injury in March 2024, never returning to television wasn't related to any medical condition. Reiterating that he never refused creative, Saints spilled some backstage details.

Saints said:

“I will say this, there are some people who stuck their nose in my creative business that shouldn’t have happened. 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.”

Considering the lack of control Starks clearly felt in the final months of his AEW tenure, the personal link in his new name feels far more loaded. It's not just a "rule of cool" name, it's like a reclamation of something more personal. A statement to those who sought to tell him how to do things in AEW, unsolicited.

Ricky Saints is set to make his in-ring debut on this week's edition of WWE NXT (February 25) tagging with Je'Von Evans to take on the two interlopers to his contract g segment in Ethan Page and Wes Lee in a tag team match. Another major tag team match is also set for the show as the Hardy Boyz, Matt and Jeff Hardy are set to return to WWE for the first time since they finished their time in AEW. The current TNA Wrestling Tag Team Champions are taking on No Quarter Catch Crew's Myles Borne and Tavion Heights to determine who will get a future title shot at WWE NXT Tag Team Champions, Nathan Frazer and Axiom.

Sources: Busted Open Radio

Transcription via Wrestling Observer