WWE were reportedly planning Ricky Starks’ debut before his departure from AEW.
On February 10, it was reported by PWInsider that Ricky Starks had left AEW and was free to perform elsewhere, and it wasn’t long before that was proven to be the case. To the surprise of fans across the world, the former FTW Champion made his WWE NXT debut just one day after it emerged that he had reached free agency. With the signing coming together so quickly, more has come out regarding WWE’s original plan for Starks before he left AEW.
Per Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it’s believed that WWE initially pencilled in Starks’ debut for a major NXT event later this year before he became available sooner than expected.
“Even before his release, WWE had plans for Starks to debut in NXT at a major event later this year, but sped up the process as soon as he was available.”
-Dave Meltzer
As many fans noticed, Starks wasn’t referenced by name by the NXT broadcast team at any point during or after his debut, prompting viewers to wonder about a possible name change for the 34-year-old. It has since been confirmed that he has been added to their internal roster under the Ricky Starks name, but his identity could still change and the situation is certainly one to keep an eye on in the weeks to come.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Ricky Starks’ NXT debut as soon as we hear more.
