Tony Khan Thought Ricky Saints Would Leave AEW Because Of Links To Cody Rhodes

Ricky Starks is now Ricky Saints in WWE NXT, with his exit from All Elite Wrestling confirmed after months in the wilderness.

Saints was given his release in mid-February after nearly a year on the sidelines, with the former AEW World Tag Team Champion having requested his release from his contract in 2024.

Leading up to his exit, Saints stated he wasn’t sure why he’d been frozen out, but a report from Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter suggests that AEW CEO Tony Khan assumed Starks would be leaving AEW to go to WWE due to Starks' close links with Undisputed WWE Champion and former AEW EVP Cody Rhodes. Khan's belief that Starks was leaving for WWE led to him not being used by AEW from March 2024 onwards.

Ricky Saints is known to be close to Cody Rhodes and Saints was backstage at Royal Rumble 2023 with Rhodes. Saints also attended WrestleMania 40 to support Cody.

Whilst Khan’s keeping Saints in the dark could be seen as cold, it is seemingly a twist on how other promoters use outgoing talent, with Meltzer noting how WWE had Ricochet lose to ‘key people’ on his way out when it looked like he wasn’t going to sign a new contract with the company. Creative for Starks in 2024 was reportedly drawn up by AEW, with various reports suggesting Starks turned down creative plans, although he has denied this was the case.

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