Louisiana Athlete’s Reason For Name Change Revealed

In February, pro wrestler and Louisiana native Ricky Starks shocked the wrestling world in a move that brought back memories of when Rick Rude appeared on two rival wrestling companies' shows on the same night.

Ricky Saints, real name Ricky Starks, has fans everywhere confused with new reports coming about, apparently revealing a more odd reason for his new stage name.

Ricky Starks made it to the national pro wrestling stage in June of 2020 when he debuted and signed with the second largest pro wrestling company in America, All Elite Wrestling. Starks's time in AEW came to an end after a tumultuous public outcry from both himself and fans at being underutilized by the company.

It was announced by AEW on February 11th that Starks had been released from his contract with the company, and only a few hours later on WWE's Tuesday night NXT show Ricky Starks would appear on the show planting himself with the WWE flag, and with a new name.

The Mystery Behind Ricky Saints' NXT Name Change

During his first appearance on NXT not one person on the entire show actually said the name "Ricky Starks" which wasn't just a coincidence as the next week he would come out by the name of Ricky Saints. Occasionally in the pro-wrestling world, a wrestler will change their stage name when they leave a promotion, since the promotion may have some ownership of the copyright to the stage name. But the name Ricky Starks is the legal birthname of the NOLA-born grappler, so many fans thought surely that couldn't be the reason for his name change.

Saints clarified soon after that the name change was a personal decision, as a way to pay tribute to his hometown and their famed football team, though new reporting suggests that may not have been all behind the name change.

Author and Editor for Fightful, Sean Ross Sapp has heard from sources within WWE that the reason for the name change was due to an issue with the rights to use the Ricky Starks name. Whether this is because he refuses to give them the rights so he can keep the name, or whether a former employer of Starks might have some sort of copyright on the name still despite it being his legal name.