Ricky Saints: Cody Rhodes has been ‘very impactful’ in my life and career
Cody Rhodes’ friendship has made a big impact on Ricky Saints both personally and professionally.
In 2020, Rhodes brought Saints (Ricky Starks) into AEW for a match that led to him being signed by the company. Both are now part of WWE with Rhodes on the main roster and Saints in NXT. They do not get to see each other in person too often at the moment, but Rhodes still helps guide Saints in his career and life in general.
“The friendship in itself is great because, you know, I don’t know if he sees a younger kid in me [like] when he was first starting out. I don’t know. I would think so, but I really don’t know,” Saints told the Battleground Podcast. “But he’s great in the fact that there are things that I’m figuring out on my own. And there are little pockets that I kind of miss, right? He is great at identifying those pockets and giving me words of wisdom that allow me to ultimately guide myself to what it is that I should be learning or figuring out.
“He’s really, really good at that. He’s really good at giving you a perspective and you ultimately being like, ‘Oh, okay. I get it now.’ It’s so undervalued in that sense, because you’re usually used to people like physically showing you this or doing that, right? Since we don’t live very close to each other, it’s hard. So when we do have these moments where we do see each other and we talk, the conversations are in depth. They have such a deep magnitude to them of like life and sh*t outside of wrestling, you know what I’m saying? It covers all of it. So he’s been very impactful in my career and in my life too, personally and professionally. So I can’t really thank him too much [for] that.”
Saints has been in NXT since debuting for WWE in February 2025. He has the chance to become a two-time NXT Champion when he challenges Joe Hendry for the belt at Vengeance Day this Saturday.
This week will also see Rhodes challenge for gold when he faces Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship on SmackDown. That matchup will have a big impact on WrestleMania plans with Randy Orton now confirmed to be challenging for the belt at Mania.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.