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Ricky Saints Cuts Emotional Promo After Successful NXT Debut In Cincinnati

The revolution is off to a great start in NXT. Ricky Saints emerged from his debut match victorious, and had a lot to say after it was all said and done.
Rick Ucchino|
Ricky Saints wins NXT debut match over Wes Lee
Ricky Saints wins NXT debut match over Wes Lee | WWE.com

The revolution has started off with a bang.

The main event of Tuesday night's NXT special in Cincinnati saw Ricky Saints and Je'Von Evans emerge victorious over Ethan Page and Wes Lee. A fired up Saints hit Lee with his Roshambo finisher to pick up the win.

The crowd was white hot for Saints from his introduction to the final bell. Firing up "Tony Fumbled" chants on multiple occasions, alleging that Tony Khan misused Ricky (Starks) when he was a member of the AEW roster.

Tuesday night marked the first match for Saints in a major promotion since last March. The 35-year-old showed no signs of ring rust after having sat out much of the past year while under contract with All Elite Wrestling.

After NXT went off the air Tuesday night, Saints was visibly overcome with emotion while trying to sum up the evening's events in a WWE digital exclusive.

“Wild, absolutely wild," Starks said. "I overcame a lot of things just to make it in this moment. My first time that I came here, I didn’t know what I was gonna expect. The second time I showed up at NXT, didn’t know what to expect. But this time was different. I knew what was gonna happen. Old Ricky never died. While I thought I put him to bed, guess what? He woke up on his own two feet, and he was ready to go, energized, charged up, like 100% iPhone."

Saints said if there was anyone out there still sleeping on him after his 14 years of hard work in professional wrestling, then it's time they wake up.

Now that he's in NXT, Ricky Saints vowed with tears in his eyes that he would show up and show out every single week.

"I am an emotional man, I’m not afraid to admit that. But tonight felt like a fever dream that I don’t wish to ever wake up from." Saints said. "I’m very honored to be standing in front of this camera, in front of NXT. I don’t think that I ever envisioned my life ending up this way, but damn, at least I can freaking say that I made it through. I made it through. I stood there with my head held high and my chest puffed out because I knew what I wanted, and I knew who I was, and that will never change."

Ricky called Tuesday night's match in Cincinnati a love letter to all the people that called for the revolution to be televised. It was also a reminder of who the old Ricky was, and a sign of things to come for the new Ricky in NXT.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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