Former AEW Star Ricky Starks Discusses New Ricky Saints Moniker In WWE NXT

As of last night, former AEW star Ricky Starks is no more. Instead, Starks will now be going by the name Ricky Saints, revealing his new name when he officially signed with "NXT," despite some brief interruptions from Ethan Page and Wes Lee. But even as Saints gets ready for his first "NXT" match next week, when he and Je'Von Evans will battle Lee and Page, most people are still hung up on his name change.

Fortunately, Saints appeared on "Busted Open After Dark" with Bully Ray right after his contract signing and attempted to explain his new moniker as best he could. And the key for Saints is that the name pays homage to the city of New Orleans, where Saints was born and raised until he was forced to move due to Hurricane Katrina.

"It's not even a throwback because the New Orleans Saints are still around," Saints said. "But Saints in itself is pretty indicative of New Orleans regardless. If you think of the football team, if you think of the French influence and things of that nature. And I mean, it's as close as you're going to get to Starks."

"I like the name," he continued. "I know a lot of people are going to be ... it's going to take time for them to get used to it, and I respect that they care so deeply about me that they rebel against the name change. But at the same time, I am a product of New Orleans, first and foremost. And I want to pay respect to that as well. And so, that's what it was."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open After Dark" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription