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Wednesday, February 19, 2025 Issue #7493
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

I seriously thought they would let Ricky Starks keep his name but you know something was up when they didn't mention him by name on day one!


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

RICKY STARKS IS NOW RICKY SAINTS!

- Ricky Starks signed his NXT contract last night on The CW, but the name is no longer Starks, but rather Saints. While quite a few have moved on from AEW or indies to WWE and kept their name, not everyone is that fortunate, and the former AEW Tag Team title holder is a casualty of a name change. The contract signing was headed by NXT General Manager Ava, who called Ricky the hottest free agent at the moment. During his in-ring promo, he was interrupted twice, once by Ethan Page and once by Wes Lee. Eventually, Je'Von Evans also showed his face, attacking Page. The new arrival challenged Wes Lee to a match for next week which will be his official in-ring debut for the company. He then signed the contract as the camera panned over the paper work which said Ricky Saints. WWE avoided mentioning Starks by name over the last several days since his surprise arrival on last week's episode. You can see the full segment at .

MOOSE MAKES SURPRISE APPEARANCE ON NXT

- The TNA X Division champion, Moose, made a surprise appearance on NXT last night, confronting NXT champion Oba Femi in the opening segment of the show. Moose told Femi that he is the one man that he can't rule over and pushed for a match between the two. "Oba, this has to happen, Oba Femi vs Moose," the TNA X Division champion said. "Don't worry, it will," responded Femi as both held their respective titles above their shoulders. This was Moose's first appearance on WWE television. You can see it at

RICKY SAINTS DISCUSSES NEW NAME

- Appearing on Busted Open Radio, the newly renamed Ricky Saints discussed the idea behind his new name. Now formerly known as Ricky Starks, he said that the new name is as close as you're going to get to Starks and he likes the name as it's pretty indicative of New Orleans. "I know a lot of people are going to be...it's going to take time for people to get used to it and I respect that they care so deeply about me, um, that they rebel against the name change but at the same time I am a product of New Orleans and I want to pay respect to that as well," Saints told Bubba Ray. The former AEW Tag Team champion signed his NXT contract on last night's episode and it was the first time that he was addressed by the name after WWE didn't mention it since his surprise appearance last week. He also tackled the issue of his AEW release and why he was never brought back to television after he got injured in March 2024 among other topics. “There are some people who stuck their nose in my creative business that shouldn’t have happened,” Saints said. “Veterans. And that’s it, I’ll leave it at that. And if they got a problem with me, they got my number. And text me about it."

HARDY BOYZ TO WRESTLE ON NXT NEXT WEEK

- Matt and Jeff Hardy are returning to WWE television as TNA Tag Team champions on next week's episode of NXT. The popular Hardy Boyz appeared via video on last night's episode of NXT to respond to No Quarter Catch Crew after they issued a challenge to the TNA tag champs. Matt and Jeff agreed to take on Tavion Heights and Myles Borne and promised a "Hardy party" at NXT. "Two men who have re-defined tag-team wrestling for over 25 years," wrote Triple H on X after the video aired. "The Hardy Boyz have reached the pinnacle of our industry (and often jumped off of it) to the amazement of fans worldwide… …and they return to a @WWE ring NEXT WEEK on #WWENXT in Cincinnati." Matt has not appeared on WWE television since March 2020 while Jeff got himself fired after he casually walked out during a tag match at a non-televised live event in December 2021. Next week's episode will take place from The Andrew J Brady Music Center and some tickets remain starting from $49.

SMACKDOWN RATING

- Facing the NBA All-Star Weekend programming, Smackdown last Friday drew its lowest number since moving on USA Network, getting 1,384,000 viewers, down 123,000 viewers from the previous show. Smackdown had a 0.42 rating in 18-49, down 0.06 from the prior week and was #2 on the cable chart and on all of television behind the NBA, which beat it by a 0.01. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

RAW VIEWS ON NETFLIX FOR 02/10/2025

- Last week's episode of Raw had 2,800,000 views globally on Netflix, the lowest number since the show has moved to the streaming service. It was down 300,000 views from the post-Royal Rumble show and 100,000 less than the prior week which was until then the least-watched episode. Netflix listed a total of 5,500,000 hours consumed watching Raw which placed #8 on the top 10 chart for the week. The show was in the top 10 in four different countries, Bolivia, Canada, Nicaragua, and United States. It was the first time that it didn't crack the list in the United Kingdom.

DOUBLE OR NOTHING MOES TO ARIZONA

- Double or Nothing will be moving away from Las Vegas for the first time - apart from the COVID era - since its inception in 2019 and will be taking place from the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. AEW announced the show for Sunday, May 25, with the pre-sale starting on Friday, February 21 while general on-sale is set for Monday, February 24. "The fans in the Phoenix area have been so incredible for AEW," Tony Khan told the Arizona Republic. "We’ve done several shows around Phoenix and we’ve had great support from the fans." Khan added that the great fans of Phoenix deserve a pay-per-view event after their last show in the area. Double or Nothing was AEW's first-ever pay-per-view and was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The 2020 and 2021 shows went to Daily's Place due to the pandemic, and then in 2022 and 2023 it was held at the T-Mobile Arena before returning to the MGM Grand in 2024. The Desert Diamond Arena can hold up to 17,000 seats.

DYNAMITE PREVIEW

- Dynamite tonight will be at a new venue for the company as it debuts at the Arizona Financial Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. Collision will also be taped tonight in the same location. Set for tonight are Powerhouse Hobbs vs Big Bill in a street fight, a trios match between Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata vs Christian Cage, Nick Wayne, and Kip Sabian, Megan Bayne vs Kris Statlander, and Orange Cassidy vs Roderick Strong in an AEW International Championship Series match. Plus, MJF and Hangman Page will be coming face-to-face. AEW World champion Jon Moxley and TBS champion Mercedes Mone are also advertised for the show. Dynamite airs on TBS at 8PM ET and will also stream on Max.


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