When Ricky Stars received “the call” from Triple H about the possibility of WWE, he initially thought it was a prank. During a visit to Seattle, Triple H called Saints to express WWE’s interest in him, though not immediately for the main roster.
Saints spoke about his road from free agency to NXT gold during a recent conversation with longtime friend Cody Rhodes.
“Triple H called me. Just got off a flight to Seattle actually, and he called me and I was just like, ‘Uh,’ because I didn’t know the number, and it didn’t say Stamford or anything so I was like who is this? And I always answer it. Even if it’s an unknown, I’ll always answer…
So Hunter calls me, I’m getting off this flight in Seattle and I can barely hear him. The airport’s so loud and he asks me, ‘Hey, would you wanna come in?’ And, ‘We’re interested,’ blah, blah. ‘We’d love to have you. You’re talented,’ X, Y and Z and I was like, ‘Oh yeah, sure. Hell yeah.’” – Ricky Starks on What Do You Wanna Talk About? with Cody Rhodes
Saints was caught off guard when Triple H asked his next question.
– “Right as I’m getting on the tram, he says something about — he was like, ‘Raw or SmackDown’ and I was like, ‘Wait, what? What did you say?’ And I was so scared to say, ‘Hey, could you repeat yourself?’ Because I know how it feels, that I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, for sure.’”
Triple H’s invitation included a meeting with Shawn Michaels, leading Saints to eventually win the NXT North American Championship.
“Basically, what he was saying was, ‘Hey, we’re not gonna put you on Raw or SmackDown just yet…’ But he wanted me to meet Shawn (Michaels), and so that was like a big thing. I was like, ‘Of course I will. Yes, I would love that.’ That’s all I really wanted is just resources. I feel like I’m a rough diamond that just needs a little polishing.”
Check out the full interview right here:
Ricky Saints has quickly become a prominent figure in WWE NXT since his February 2025 debut, capturing the NXT North American Championship from Shawn Spears on April 1 before losing it to Ethan Page on May 27 in a heated rivalry that left Saints injured with a laryngeal contusion.
After recovering and winning a challenging Gauntlet Match against the Vanity Project trio on July 8, Saints is set to face Page in a Falls Count Anywhere match at the Great American Bash on July 12.