C.S. Posted February 12 Report Share Posted February 12 1 hour ago, The Thread Killer said: Well…that didn’t take long. Ricky Starks in NXT, although I noticed they did not call him Ricky Starks. I said this in the other thread too: If Ethan Page got to keep his name, I don't see why Ricky Starks wouldn't, but you never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted February 12 Report Share Posted February 12 21 minutes ago, C.S. said: I said this in the other thread too: If Ethan Page got to keep his name, I don't see why Ricky Starks wouldn't, but you never know. My only guess would be because Ethan Page is not really Page’s name (Julian Micevski) and I am assuming he probably signed over the rights to the name Ethan Page when he signed with WWE/NXT. Whereas Ricky Starks is Starks’s actual legal name, so they might want to give him one they can copyright/own. I know they haven’t been doing that as much lately, but as you said…you never know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 12 Author Report Share Posted February 12 All valid points, but the crowd chanted his name and the announcers acknowledged the crowd knows who he is (even if they didn't say the name themselves), so having him come back with a name from that Key and Peele skit with the football players would be a level of stupid we really haven't seen post-Vince. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 12 Author Report Share Posted February 12 Also interesting that not as if WWE cares that much about the indies, Starks just won the Defy title this past weekend and they are pretty close with AEW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 12 Report Share Posted February 12 4 hours ago, sek69 said: All valid points, but the crowd chanted his name and the announcers acknowledged the crowd knows who he is (even if they didn't say the name themselves), Damn. Did they do the "You know who that is ! He's in the NXT Zone !" ? They really take that TNA relationship at heart... Exactly what I said though. Penta debuted on Netflix. Starks debuts on NXT. And it's not like he needs to. Although you can say the same for Jordynne Grace, and maybe Starks is only gonna spend a few months there anyway. Being friends with Cody is his best card, but let's be real, Cody is not *the* man. Paul Lesveque is. And Dwayne is above him. At least this narrative about how Ricky Starks is held hostage and his constant whining is gonna stop now. Well, maybe not the whining since that was 90% of his character for his last active year in AEW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 12 Author Report Share Posted February 12 I get it from WWE's side that Ricky Starks has been off TV for a long time, so starting him in NXT at least for a little bit allows them to reestablish him to folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embrodak Posted February 12 Report Share Posted February 12 Starks as a big fish in the smaller NXT pond makes more sense, honestly. You can't immediately sell masks and toys of him the way you can Penta, and NXT is somewhere he can be on TV every/almost every week and establish himself as a bigger deal in the eyes of the WWE fans before moving up to the main roster. AJ Styles was a main eventer in TNA for nearly a decade and had just come off the most critically acclaimed run of his career in Japan, him you can start right on the main roster. Ricky Starks not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted February 13 Report Share Posted February 13 20 hours ago, sek69 said: All valid points, but the crowd chanted his name and the announcers acknowledged the crowd knows who he is (even if they didn't say the name themselves), so having him come back with a name from that Key and Peele skit with the football players would be a level of stupid we really haven't seen post-Vince. Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, and Hideo Itami were introduced on camera as Kevin Steen, Fergal Devitt, and KENTA before going through the NXT Name Generator, so Starks not even having his name announced ahead of time will pose much less of a problem if WWE opts to change it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 16 Author Report Share Posted February 16 On 2/12/2025 at 9:33 PM, C.S. said: Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, and Hideo Itami were introduced on camera as Kevin Steen, Fergal Devitt, and KENTA before going through the NXT Name Generator, so Starks not even having his name announced ahead of time will pose much less of a problem if WWE opts to change it. Apparently the issue was they wanted to get him on TV so fast they didn't get a chance to complete the usual paperwork they do to be able to license the name. At least per Fightful WWE was just erring on the side of caution and he's still being referred to as Ricky Starks internally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 16 Author Report Share Posted February 16 Je'von Evans putting in another good showing at Vengeance, odd choice for Page to go over but that's how things go in the slower paced HHH/HBK era I suppose. He still looks like he's going to be money in the not too distant future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 16 Author Report Share Posted February 16 Also with all due respect to Melo, Oba Femi is HIM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 Nathan Frazer is clearly capable of excelling at the WWE style or probably just about any other he were asked to work elsewhere. You want him to get a chance to steal the show on the main roster but because of his size, style, age, etc. its just not going to happen there even if he's nearly assured of doing so every time out in NXT. So we root for him to tread water and crush it in the minor? I guess that'll have to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted February 16 Report Share Posted February 16 18 hours ago, WingedEagle said: Nathan Frazer is clearly capable of excelling at the WWE style or probably just about any other he were asked to work elsewhere. You want him to get a chance to steal the show on the main roster but because of his size, style, age, etc. its just not going to happen there even if he's nearly assured of doing so every time out in NXT. So we root for him to tread water and crush it in the minor? I guess that'll have to do. I dunno. He is essentially AJ Styles Jr. in my eyes (at least early 00s AJ) so it's not like he can't flourish on the main roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted February 17 Report Share Posted February 17 6 hours ago, KawadaSmile said: I dunno. He is essentially AJ Styles Jr. in my eyes (at least early 00s AJ) so it's not like he can't flourish on the main roster. I hope you're right. I don't see it at this point as Frazer comes off as much smaller, but perhaps if he says his prayers and eats his vitamins he could get into tippy top shape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 Julius Creed is going to be a coach on The Ultimate Fighter, that should be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 Glad to see Roxanne Perez qualify for EC. She and Rodriguez had a really solid match there tonight. She is already way more polished and professional than a number of the women on the main roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Thread Killer Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 Ricky Saints?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbo Slice Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 Bahahahahaha. Who Dat indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 Shawn Spears. Ethan Page. Stephanie Vaquer. Giulia. PENTA Ricky Sta Saints. 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 Not interested in WWE TV or even PPVs mostly, but the decades of context between actual corporate Rock trying to get Cody Rhodes to be the Corporate Champ is a very intriguing situation. Even before this segment, my thought since the Rumble was they have to have Cena beat Cody at WM and set off a just as big heel run for him, and after this, if they don't do something like that water we dune here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted February 22 Author Report Share Posted February 22 Rock and Cody as the new Two Man Power Trip would be some good shit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnviousStupid Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 Can't get over how Ricky is doing that pose after everything now, compared to when it was just part of his entrance before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted February 22 Report Share Posted February 22 13 hours ago, EnviousStupid said: Can't get over how Ricky is doing that pose after everything now, compared to when it was just part of his entrance before. That explains why it suddenly looks dumb as fuck to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted February 25 Report Share Posted February 25 Fascinating that both Steen and Generico have had a 10+ year WWE run and both are some how able to capture the absolute best of Mick Foley promo/character/bumps but also still do the 10s/20s indie style. Bunch of the early ROH guys got big pushes over the years, but those two specifically have such a direct analog despite being very different not only from Foley but also each other. These two are going to be much more beloved over the years than Seth Rollins for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted February 26 Report Share Posted February 26 Surely Ricky Starks debuting in NXT to feud with another former AEW guy where they can frequently allude to AEW but not actually mention AEW, and then his actual debut being a tag match with two low card guys is not what he was expecting getting out of his AEW contract. Just debuting someone like that on NXT now already feels like the ceiling is visible. Compare to MCMG or Penta, although even for them, Penta is already doing Main Event and feuding with not even IC/US title guys so who knows. Grass is greener and all that. I'm sure he's going to get more money at least but who knows how long he'll be happy with his position and how that will go for his career. Just looking at how NXT treats things, it might be a bigger deal if he went to TNA and then was part of the TNA/NXT crossover than just popping into NXT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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