Ricky Saints has come a long way since his days in NWA.
This Saturday, Ricky Saints is scheduled to challenge for the NXT Championship and it’s been a long journey for Saints to get to this point. The 35-year-old originally made his debut in 2012, though the most notable thing he did was getting bullied by Ryback.
However, Saints started gaining notoriety when he joined the NWA in 2018. Though his time in the company was brief, he did make a lasting impression that allowed him to jump ship over to AEW.
Despite the turbulent end to his AEW run, Saints had plenty of great moments and matches including his brief feud with MJF, his amazing matches with Bryan Danielson, and end his mini-feud with CM Punk. What’s noticeable about Saints was how he was able to grow as a performer throughout every one of his stints.
The NXT Championship challenger spoke on Good Karma Wrestling and credited several high profile names that helped him evolve as a wrestler.
“There’s a few people in my life that have really helped me. You’ve got Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, Cody, Shawn Spears; people like that, that have really, along the way, helped guide me to this point that I’m getting to,” he said. “Even some guys that are not as known. God rest his soul, Jax Dane was another guy from NWA that really took me under his wing and helped me out. So, I can’t say that this was a lonesome journey, for sure.
There are people who have helped as much as they could, as much as they have been able to help. So I do think that this Saturday, it is on me to not only make them proud, but to make myself proud and my family proud as well.”
Will all that help get him the victory over Oba Femi this Saturday? We’ll find out at No Mercy. Despite all of the TNA vs. NXT things that are going on, there’s a good chance that Saints could walk out as the new NXT Champion.
Should Saints win on Saturday then he’ll be one of the rare talents who won the North American and NXT Championship within a calendar year of their debut. Oba Femi doesn’t even have that claim and he’s been built as a beast. No Mercy will take place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and the show will start at 7PM Eastern Time.