Former AEW Star Thinks Ricky Saints Will Do Well In WWE NXT

"WWE NXT" star Shawn Spears is excited to see how fellow "NXT" and former AEW star Ricky Saints progresses in the promotion.

Spears and Saints left AEW to join WWE, with the former returning to WWE last year, while the latter debuted in WWE in February 2025. Spears recently spoke on the "Gabby AF" podcast, where he emphasized how he and Saints had similar reasons for leaving AEW and joining rival promotion WWE.

"Very excited [for Saints in WWE]. You know, I spent a lot of time with Ricky over in AEW and things like that, so we've had a lot of our conversations. Just a guy who's, same thing, grinding it out, looking to get a break, got a big break over there, and then, I think it's just a matter of, much like the business, I think it's a personal evolution that we, as performers, kind of search out," said Spears. "I think he just felt he needed to step away and step into something new, and kind of re-jumpstart, and I think a lot of talent, depending on how long you're in this — both men and women — I think they hit that at some point in their career."

Spears stated that he left AEW and returned to WWE because he felt he wasn't in the right place at that point in his career. He believes wrestlers must bet on themselves and explore different opportunities if they feel they don't belong somewhere. Spears had a four-year run with AEW, while Saints — formerly known as Ricky Starks in AEW — was a part of AEW between 2020 and 2025. 

Saints has so far wrestled one match in WWE, which came on the February 25 edition of "NXT," where he teamed with Je'Von Evans to defeat another former AEW star, Ethan Page and Wes Lee.