The NXT Discussion Thread

[Supremo]

On 2/16/2025 at 2:52 PM, JLM said:

The more I think about this, the more I think he would totally pull off “Absolute” Bubba Poon. Bizarrely I think he’s one of the only wrestlers in history who kind of looks like a Bubba Poon. 

Looks good to me!

I’m 99.9% certain he’ll just be Ricky Starks. The way they rushed him onto TV was so unlike what they usually do, I imagine not naming him was mostly down to them not getting all the trademarks and rights sorted in time.

He’ll go, “I’m here, I’m taking over and I’m Absolute…..Ricky Starks.” And then it’ll get a big pop, it’ll be seen as a weird victory and the worst pro-wrestling grifters will bang on about it for a week solid.

[DavidB6937]

Still hoping for Sticky Marks.

[Supremo]

Turned in to see Ricky S̶t̶a̶r̶k̶s̶ Saints. Was met with Moose, The Hardy Boys and Ava's acting.

Not for me, Clive. Guess I'll see you when you get to Raw or Smackdown, Ricky.

[LaGoosh]

Ricky Starks and Ethan Page in the same segment? Rampage is back, baby!

[RedTwoster]

Huh, so they did change his name, wonder why? He’s the first established wrestler in a long time, as far as I can think anyway, who hasn’t come in under their usual identity. 

I’ve not watched TNA for a while, so I’m curious as to how The Hardy Boys are doing as far as ring work is concerned; because last time I saw them, there was little positive to say. Given that Triple H has tweeted about them, I wonder if they’ll be ‘surprised’ after one of their NXT matches with news they’re being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame? Then again, they’re running out of headline acts, so maybe they’ll want to save that one for another year.

[Chili]

Unless Ricky Saints is gonna come out to The Saints are Coming by The Skids, that name and problematic Moose can both do one.

[Supremo]

My theory with Ricky is that unlike Shawn Spears or Ethan Page, who they don’t expect anything from, they actually have big plans for Ricky Saints, and think they can mostly build him from the ground up, so want as much control on the investment as possible.

Funniest will always be them changing Pillman Junior’s name, when all he ever had was the name. I’ve no idea how much it costs to brand or trademark something, but even if it cost them 25p with Lexis King, it’s been a waste of money.

[HarmonicGenerator]

19 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

Huh, so they did change his name, wonder why? He’s the first established wrestler in a long time, as far as I can think anyway, who hasn’t come in under their usual identity. 

Maybe it’s just that WWE thing of not having multiple people with the same / almost the same name. They already have a Zoey Stark. It’s never been like AEW where they were happy to have Pages and Cages all over the place.

That, or they’re thinking of some kind of New Orleans street band ‘when the saints come marching in’ link?

Edited February 19, 2025 by HarmonicGenerator

[RedTwoster]

6 minutes ago, HarmonicGenerator said:

Maybe it’s just that WWE thing of not having multiple people with the same / almost the same name. They already have a Zoey Stark.

That’s a good shout, I never considered that. I thought it might be some sort of trademark thing and, for whatever reason, they were unable to trademark his original name for merchandise; but it might be as simple as there being a clash. 

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, RedTwoster said:

That’s a good shout, I never considered that. I thought it might be some sort of trademark thing and, for whatever reason, they were unable to trademark his original name for merchandise; but it might be as simple as there being a clash. 

Ricky Starks is his real name, isn't it?

[theringmaster]

20 minutes ago, Supremo said:

 

Funniest will always be them changing Pillman Junior’s name, when all he ever had was the name. I’ve no idea how much it costs to brand or trademark something, but even if it cost them 25p with Lexis King, it’s been a waste of money.

Is Pillman jnr the first true case of someone leaving AEW for WWE and doing worse? I don't believe for one second Lexis King is an improvement from what he was doing in AEW.

[DavidB6937]

I'm not sure he's doing worse is he? Admittedly he's not exactly setting the world on fire but he's been pretty consistently used.

[FLips]

Last time I watched NXT he had some sort of trophy and was defending it. That's already way better than being a jobber on Dark like he was in AEW.

[mim731]

Yeah he's certainly been more featured than he was in AEW including an angle with William Regal. The fact Pillman Jr's still not very good is a different matter, but it's not for a lack of trying by WWE. 

[Chili]

Richard Starks is his real name and Steve Williams, Steve Austin, Steve Blackman, Marc Mero and Mark Henry all existed on the same roster without any confusion. It was one of those Vince control freak weird ticks that would occasionally flare up and down.

It's not that Ricky Saints is an awful name and we'll all be used to it. It's just how amusingly 'insert wrestler has arrived in the impact zone' meme it sounds. 

Still it's better than poor Lexis King. Who could be a wrestler, but could also be doing a scene for Brazzers if you just heard the name.

I really enjoyed the Varsity Blondes. It was so WCW Pro/Saturday Night I couldn't completely hate them.

Edited February 19, 2025 by Chili