Ricky Saints on being off AEW TV before WWE debut: ‘I was going crazy’
Ricky Saints says he was “going crazy” during the time he spent on the sidelines in AEW before departing the company.
Saints’ last AEW match took place on the March 30, 2024, episode of AEW Collision, and he wouldn’t debut in NXT until February 2025. While he wrestled a few indie matches during that gap, he says not being able to consistently wrestle left him frustrated.
During a recent interview with The Ringer’s Cameron Hawkins, Saints compared that time to when he was out of action with a neck fracture in 2021.
“I have to do things,” Saints said. “For me, at least, fulfillment comes from actually making art, doing art, and actually being the person that makes something and then puts it out there. And so when you don’t have that opportunity to do that, so to speak, my fulfillment is stalled out. I need that. That’s how everything operates for me. I think that was the toughest part. It reminded me [of] when I had my neck injury and I couldn’t wrestle. I was going crazy because I couldn’t do the one thing that I love to do.”
In February, Saints performed at DEFY’s eighth anniversary show in Seattle, defeating KENTA for the promotion’s top championship. He says the reaction he received that night moved him to tears.
“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.”
Now that he’s in NXT, Saints has wasted little time getting involved in major storylines and capturing the North American Championship. He told The Ringer that he has his eye on other titles in the company as well.
“My aspirations in AEW were to just be given a chance and given the ball fully. I want that in WWE, obviously,” Ricky admits, adding “I want the WWE Championship, but along the way, the Intercontinental title would be great.”
The full feature article on Ricky Saints is available here.
Good morning.
— Northwest Cee (@CeeHawk) April 8, 2025
New name, new locale, new title, same fire.
Ricky Saints, back like he never left. https://t.co/EyOuhhBKCE
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.