Ricky Saints Talks About Being Face Of WWE NXT, Reveals What Shawn Michaels Once Told Him About His Character

Reigning WWE NXT Champion Ricky Saints is having a hell of a year. The Absolute star signed with World Wrestling Entertainment earlier this year and has since been performing on the NXT brand.

In just eight months, Saints has reached the summit of NXT’s men’s division, having won both the North American Championship and the NXT Title. The former AEW star dethroned Oba Femi as NXT Champion last month and recently had a successful title defense against Trick Williams.

Saints recently appeared on the Busted Open podcast, where he opened up about being the face of NXT, whether he still has a chip on his shoulder, his unrelenting desire to be the absolute best, and one of his conversations with Shawn Michaels.

You can check out the highlights below:

On being the face of WWE NXT

“Man, it’s great. You know, there is a point in your life when you work very hard for things that you want, and then when you’re given it, um, it kind of feels just right. So, I’m not going to say that I’m surprised by this or anything like that, but it’s good to be in this position because it allows me to show everyone everything that I felt for myself already.” [0:30-0:56]

On having a chip on his shoulder

“Yeah, even to this day, I have a chip on my shoulder, and it’s not just from one thing. You know, the stuff from… you can pull from the reaction from AEW fans here and vice versa, but it’s even beyond that. You know, I’m sitting across the table from an athlete, who looks at me differently, as if he is better than me, as if, you know, he, uh, somehow has a step above me based on what I’ve done outside those four walls,” he said.

The NXT Champion continued:

“Those types of feelings I still harbor because it is true, and it still is something that I’m dealing with every day when I go to the PC or, you know, when I’m talking to someone. The fact is, I don’t want anyone to ever look at me as a less(er) thing and then treat me that way. So, I’m always fighting for those things. So, the fire that you see comes from a real place because it’s still alive. I don’t think it will ever go away. And I think the day that it does, I think I’m scr**ed.” [1:40-2:43]

On NXT head booker Shawn Michaels

“Shawn is awesome. Shawn is great because Shawn can give you… I remember one time Shawn pulled me aside, and he goes, ‘You’re not a typical babyface. You know, you’re kind of… I get it.’ And so, it’s always good to have that type of perspective because too often you have someone’s idea of what something is supposed to be and they try to put it on you, and it’s like, ‘Yeah, it ain’t working.’” [5:34 onward]

Please credit the Busted Open podcast and give an H/T to 411Mania for the transcription if you take quotes from this article.