Ricky Saints Admits There Was Restlessness While Being Off AEW TV, Is Thankful For AEW

Ricky Saints (Ricky Starks in AEW) competed in his last AEW match in March 2024, and then remained off television until he made a surprise appearance in NXT in February 2025.

Saints wrestled a handful of independent matches during that time, but also had to cancel independent appearances with GCW.

Speaking to Adam Silverstein on Getting Over, Saints was asked if there was discussion or restlessness regarding his time away from AEW.

“No real discussion or anything like that from my side of it in terms of what was discussed. There was some restlessness just because I’m so used to wrestling all the time. I think that’s the type of person I am. I’m used to creating and using my body for these things. To not have that was a very odd place to be at mentally. You’re having to figure out these other things, especially when it comes to the independents. It was not as easy to get some of these independent dates cleared. That’s not a knock on the company itself, it’s just a conflict of interest for AEW and whatever independent I wanted to do. At the end of the day it all worked. I’m thankful for both sides. I’m thankful for AEW and the independents,” he said.

Saints is set to challenge for the NXT Championship in a four-way match at NXT Stand & Deliver.

Fans can check out the lineup for the show here.

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