“Triple H ain’t wasting time”- 34-year-old star invades WWE NXT a day after his AEW contract expiration; wrestling fans in absolute ecstasy
Having spent a better part of 2024 in obscurity, Ricky Starks has found his new home. He made a jaw-dropping appearance on this week's NXT.
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Former AEW star debuts on NXT [via- Wrestle Ops and WWE/@X]
On Monday afternoon, PWInsider noted that Ricky Starks had left All Elite Wrestling and was free to sign anywhere he wished. And guess what? The Absolute One showed up on NXT just over 24 hours later. He appeared in the crowd out of nowhere as the Performance Centre attendees started chanting his name.
The 34-year-old soaked in the adulation before getting down to business. He said that if NXT claims to be the future of pro wrestling, then they’ll need an absolute superstar to sail through. Starks dubbed himself the hottest free agent at present. He begged the fans to not let his handsome face and expensive fragrance fool them, as he’s about to turn NXT upside down.
It seems like the revolution will indeed be televised soon as Ricky has arrived in WWE. This past weekend, the ex-AEW star broke new ground on the independent circuit. The Stroke Daddy dethroned KENTA for the DEFY Championship at DEFY Hundredth. And how he’s landed on NXT. Having said that, the roads that brought him to WWE’s developmental territory were full of vicissitudes.
The past year has arguably been the most challenging in Starks’ wrestling career. Since wrestling on an episode of Collision in late March, he was taken off the road. Even though there were some initial injury concerns attributed to it, Ricky later confirmed that he was fine. The months after that saw AEW completely cut Starks off its programming.
The rationale behind it remains an apple of discord. AEW CEO Tony Khan was allegedly of the belief that the wrestler in-question didn’t want to return. In fact, Ricky was just waiting for his contract to run out of time, reports alluded. Simultaneously, there was major interest within WWE to have Starks on board whenever he became available.
WWE fans in awe of Ricky Starks’ NXT debut
As obvious, Ricky Starks‘ shocking NXT appearance has the internet in shambles. The netizens are chuckling at how rapidly his jump to WWE happened. Fans seem impressed with Triple H‘s urgency to sign the former AEW FTW Champion.
A ton of memes are also making the rounds visualizing Starks putting pen to paper with WWE the moment his AEW contract expired.One said that if that’s how WWE is dealing with former AEW talent, they should have Malakai Black show up on SmackDown this week and beat Shinsuke Nakamura.
Another one quipped that recent WWE budget cuts were made to pony up money for these signings. For the unversed, Miro, fka Rusev, is also done with AEW and could end up in WWE anytime. Interesting times ahead en route to WrestleMania 41.
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Vibhor Pal
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