Ricky Saints: ‘I’m a rough diamond that just needs a little polishing’
Ricky Saints was Cody Rhodes’ guest on the latest So, What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast.
During the interview, Saints revealed that Triple H was the one who called him about signing with WWE and starting on the NXT brand. He was at the airport at the time and didn’t recognize the number, but says he always answers his phone regardless.
“Even if it’s unknown, I always answer it,” he said on the show. “I like an adventure. If it’s spam, let’s get to it, baby. I’m cool with it.”
Saints continued:
“Hunter calls me. I’m getting off this flight in Seattle and I can barely hear him because the airport is so loud. And he asked me, ‘Hey, would you want to come in? We’re interested, blah, blah, blah. We would love to have you, you’re talented, X, Y, and Z.’ And I was like, ‘Oh yeah, sure, hell yeah.’”
Saints said he heard Triple H say something about Raw or SmackDown, but the airport was so loud he couldn’t hear exactly what was being said.
“Right as I’m getting on the tram, he says something about like Raw or SmackDown. I was like, ‘Wait, what? What did you say?’ And I was so scared to say, ‘Hey, can you repeat yourself?’ Because I know how it feels. So I said, ‘Yeah Yeah, for sure.’ Basically, what he was saying was, ‘Hey, we’re not going to put you on Raw or SmackDown just yet,’ but it could have been anything. I didn’t know. I was like, ‘Okay, sweet.’
Triple H told Saints he wanted him to meet Shawn Michaels, which Saints was excited about, saying he feels like a “rough diamond that just needs a little polishing” with WWE’s resources.
“But he wanted me to meet Shawn. So that was a big thing. I was like, ‘Of course I will. Like, yes, I would love that.’ That’s all I really wanted is just resources. I feel like I’m a rough diamond that just needs a little polishing.”
Later in the conversation, Saints spoke about attending the 2024 Royal Rumble and being captured on a security camera entering the building.
“I don’t regret the Rumble thing. The Rumble thing was hilarious,” Saints said. “At the Rumble, I was just like ‘Hey, I’m an hour away.’”
Rhodes added, “That was also my fault, I walked you through the backstage area.”
Saints continued, “We were going to the bus and you were like, ‘Yeah, no one’s here.’ I saw B, I saw the other guy, I went to the bus, that was it. The reason is because I thought Rumble was a very special moment, to me. I wanted to be there and be like, ‘I’m here. This is great.’”
As he normally does on his podcasts, Rhodes asked Saints to name his “Dream Team.” After naming the show sponsor Wheatley Vodka, Saints said:
“We’re going to put The Deadman on there.”
“Undertaker is my favorite wrestler. I see this dude randomly, him and Michelle at the PC. We cut up, we talk about WCCW days.”
“Wheatley, Undertaker, Cody Rhodes, that’s not any glazing because I’m on your show.”
Mick Foley, Matthew McConaughey, and Harry Connick Jr. were also added to Saints’ team.
Up next for Saints is NXT Great American Bash on Saturday. He’s scheduled to challenge Ethan Page for the North American Championship in a Falls Count Anywhere match on the show.
The full episode of the podcast is available below: