Ricky Saints has quickly made his mark in WWE NXT, capturing the NXT North American Championship in under two months since his debut.
During his appearances at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL, fans have chanted “Tony Fumbled,” a nod to AEW’s Tony Khan and the belief among many that Saints — formerly known as Ricky Starks — wasn’t given the spotlight he deserved during his time there.
During a recent appearance on the “Good Karma Wrestling” podcast, Saints addressed the crowd’s reaction. He said,
“My take is, it’s not about what happened before. Let’s focus on the present and the work I’m putting in now. I truly appreciate that people care and have strong opinions, but I don’t want it to come at the expense of someone else.”
Chelsea Green is the inaugural WWE Women’s United States Champion. She captured the title in the finals of a tournament at Saturday Night’s Main Event back in December.
While speaking with “Den Of Geek,” Green commented on the history making moment. She said,
“It’s crazy because wanting to be a wrestler, I — of course, we have so many goals. I would not be here if I hadn’t have set goals and crushed them and set a new goal and crushed it. But that’s just a goal I didn’t even think was possible because, again, that’s a ceiling that I didn’t know we were ever going to shatter, bringing in an Intercontinental title, bringing in the United States Championship. So when Triple H revealed this (United States) championship, I really, really was set on this. This is my moment. I just know I felt it in my heart. This is meant for me. Of course, witnessing in 2024 the WNBA pop-off, women’s soccer pop-off, women’s rugby, like all of these amazing women in sports that were just thriving, I thought, this is the perfect time. Not only is it the perfect time for us to introduce this, but I think it’s the perfect time for someone like me to win it, someone who the fans have deemed wonderful, possibly mid-card or, comedic relief or, all these ridiculous terms that I just think are like, who cares? Whoever deserves these pushes or these titles or whatever it is, deserves them. Who cares?”
She continued, “So when we unveiled this beautiful championship, I just knew that I needed to push for this moment. So I did. Everything that I could in my power, which was just go full steam ahead on social media, do all the appearances that I could talk about it, in appearances and media and just make sure that everyone knew that I want it with all my heart and soul. I want to represent WWE with this championship and I’m so proud and I’m honored and it’s nerve wracking, it’s scary and it’s kind of, heavy as the head that wears the crown, but I’m truly honored to be a part of history, that nobody can take that away. That’s really crazy. I can’t believe it. Just, just little old me from an Island in Canada. It’s the first ever United States women’s champion. Like it’s ironic and it’s perfect.”
Seth Rollins admits that landing the Phoenix Splash is a rare feat for him — and he’s not sure if he’ll ever hit it again. Though the high-risk move is part of his arsenal, Rollins often misses it in matches. During a conversation with Robert Griffin III on the “Outta Pocket” podcast, he opened up about the elusive maneuver.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On rarely hitting the move: “The last time I hit it was WrestleMania 33 in Orlando. I was wrestling Triple H. That was the last time I hit it. I don’t know that I’ll ever hit it again. That was eight years ago. I bet in my life I’ve hit it less than ten times. I hit it twice in WWE. Once was Triple H, the other was a triple threat match against John Cena and Brock Lesnar at Royal Rumble 2015. I’ve hit twice in WWE. On the independents, pre-WWE, I may have hit it, legitimately less than ten times, maybe less than five times.”
On why he misses the move: “I like to bat at a high percentage. It’s a very low percentage move. High risk, semi-low reward for me. I do this great move and I hit it perfect, great, how much does that add to what we’re doing? Say I go for the move and I screw the whole thing up, the risk is so high that if I land on somebody’s face or land short or overshoot or I don’t make the rotation, that I don’t use it as a way to hit so much. What it does do is, because it’s such a cool visual, it adds a level of excitement and tension. You see me roll through on it a lot, I can do that fairly easily. The risk is low, the reward is high, because you get people up and then you can pay it off with something behind it. That’s the reasoning. Sorry if I’ve let you all down for so many years. That’s the reasoning behind it. I don’t have the confidence to hit it effectively enough to do it.”
(h/t – Fightful)
