Saints has aspirations to be a part of that show if it does happen.
Cincinnati, Ohio is hosting the 2/25 installment of NXT on The CW and that show is going to feature the official WWE in-ring debut of Ricky Saints a.k.a. Ricky Starks.
After his appearances on the 2/18 program, Saints joined Bully Ray to record an episode of Busted Open After Dark. As the conversation moved along, the topic of a main roster call-up was brought up.
Saints said he’s not against that being quick or if it takes some time. He then mentioned the WrestleVotes report that WWE is planning to announce that WrestleMania 42 in 2026 is emanating from New Orleans, Louisiana. That is Saints’ hometown and he said it’s his goal to wrestle at the Caesars Superdome.
Absolutely, I would (take the chance to get called up to main roster quickly). We got New Orleans, supposedly, rumored, right? WrestleMania next year in New Orleans. Did you read about that?… I heard about the rumor as well. If the rumor is true, that is my goal, to wrestle in the (Caesars) Superdome. That’s all I want and I’m gonna make it happen. Now if that opportunity presents itself, I don’t know, a month from now and then that’s the lead-up to it, I’m taking it. But either way, if it’s a month or 12 months, whatever the case may be, the impact of me in NXT will be felt. There is no doubt about that.
Yes, it’s already happened, I’m already on it (Saints responded when asked if he needs to be on WrestleMania in New Orleans)… When I watched Taker versus John Cena (at WrestleMania 34), I said, ‘This will be the only time that I watch from a suite and this will be — the next time I’m here will be me wrestling at the Superdome.’ We talk about goals. Sure. That’s already a thing, that’s already happened. I’m just telling you in advance. That’s all.
As for the present, he went over his plan for this NXT run and said he wants to show why WWE should have signed him in 2017. He knows the reason he was not signed then could be attributed to his own doing, but he’s left that out of his mindset as a way to motivate himself.
Long-term, Saints wants to take over Netflix, international markets and collect everything he feels he should have had a long time ago.
I’m not big on goals because they change literally every hour. But I will tell you this: The plan for me is to come in here, show exactly what everybody had been missing for the past 14 years. You should have signed me in 2017. That’s what you should’ve did… WWE should’ve signed me in 2017.
Timing (is why they didn’t sign me in 2017). Timing. Simply timing. It could’ve been on me for sure. But I can admit to the fact that the person that I was in 2017 is not the person that I am now and I’m actually glad that it happened this way. But in my weird Michael Jordan brain, that’s a big thing that I made up, you know? The plan though is to come in here and show why I call myself ‘Absolute,’ why I am who I think I am and not only that, but then help out other people. You have to lead by example. So, that’s going to be main eventing these PLEs, that’s going to be winning the NXT Championship, that’s going to be the guy, me, Ricky Saints, who people go, wow, he really did come in here and turn this whole place upside down. He really did come in here and do all the things he said he was gonna do. Those are the current plans, and then, whatever happens, happens. Then I move on and then I take over WWE fully and what I mean by that is I’m gonna take over the Netflix, I’m gonna take over international markets. I’m going to collect on everything that I thought I should have a long time ago.
For this run he’s embarking on, Saints will be able to work with Shawn Michaels. He opened up about that dynamic:
To work with Shawn (Michaels) is great because to be understood by somebody who was misunderstood is a feeling that you can’t replicate. It is a great thing to have for me and I think all along and I’ve always said this, I just need the resources. I know… and this is another thing, I don’t care how cocky I sound. I should be confident about myself, I should think highly of myself… Thank you (Saints responded to Bully Ray saying “humble doesn’t sell tickets”) and I don’t even believe in that word. I am modest to a point but I believe so highly in myself up until a certain point because I know that I have — like a squirrel, I’ve gathered so many resources, but there are some resources that I do not have and I understand that he has them and I understand that this person has them and I understand that this place has it, right? So, to get that all in once, to get that finally right now and talk to Shawn and have him give me straight on pointers right then and there. That feedback loop of, ‘Tell me what’s wrong. Let me fix it’ is great. I can’t ask for a better situation.
Elsewhere in the discussion, Saints spoke candidly about his AEW run and what went wrong. He also addressed his name change and to read more on that, click here.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Busted Open After Dark with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
