Ricky Saints is aiming for the very top of WWE, and that means overtaking his friends Cody Rhodes and CM Punk. The SmackDown star, a longtime friend of both men, will be watching their colossal SummerSlam showdown closely as he sets his sights on becoming the company's next face.
Speaking exclusively to Metro, the 36-year-old made his ambitions clear.
“All of the top spots, I’m gunning for. And you know, you’ll have people who can give their opinions on like, ‘Well, that’s kind of a lofty goal’. Doesn’t matter. A lofty goal was making it to WWE. Look at me now. So, to me, that’s just something that will happen. It’s inevitable.”
From NXT to SmackDown
Saints first signed with WWE in February 2025 and joined the NXT roster, before moving to SmackDown just three months ago. On his debut, he interrupted Cody and vowed to “change who this show is about”.
He admitted there was truth to that statement, even within a scripted setting. “There’s truth to everything,” he said. “We are friends; that does not mean that I don’t want the same things that he has.”
He added: “I would be remiss if I didn’t tell him straight up, ‘Look, it’s okay’. You’ve done a lot. Now it’s my turn to take over and do what I need to do.”
NXT and Main Event commentator Vic Joseph has already hailed Saints as a future face of Raw or SmackDown. Saints believes his defining qualities make that outcome certain.
“It’s those intangible things, it’s those attributes that I have,” he explained. “Sure, you can beat me on the track, but you’ll never outrun me.”
He noted it “takes a special crazy person to be so obsessed with an idea” that, since age 12, he has chased this singular dream despite setbacks. “There will be a point where I climb all the way up and I put the flag up there, and now I’m good,” he said. “Until that happens, I’m a very stubborn person, so nothing will be able to stop me.”
Support from Punk and the veterans
He has support from top names, including Punk and Cody, going back to their time together in AEW. Saints is particularly grateful to Punk for seeing his potential.
“Punk actually was one of the guys in the previous company that really saw something in me when other people kind of glossed over me, and I’ll always be forever indebted to him,” he said. “I love my matches with him, I think we have some type of unique chemistry.”
Saints described Punk as “always willing to help” and part of a dying breed, moving from the indies and developmental in OVW through several different eras of WWE. “Me and Ethan [Page] are one and the same. We’re from a very certain specific era, sandwiched in between what was old and what was starting to become new, and it’s very rare you have those people anymore,” he pointed out.
Beyond the main eventers, Saints leans on Paul Heyman and Michael Cole “for some worldly advice”, as well as people behind the camera – sometimes literally, in the case of cameraman Stew. “Everyone on the production team, from the truck to the camera people to the lighting rig people, everyone is so cool,” he said. “I’m always curious and eager to pick their brain about like the things they’ve seen and the life that they have lived.”
Learning from the Edge incident
There have been learning experiences along the way, including a moment in AEW when an off-the-cuff comment directed at Adam ‘Edge’ Copeland led to a tense, unscripted exchange. Edge has since claimed there was no “heat”, comparing it to countless promos in the Attitude Era.
Saints sees the humour in it. “The whole situation was kind of hilarious in the fact that this is pro wrestling, and so you can make up these arbitrary rules if you want to about how certain things are and whatnot. But at the end of the day, it’s beyond a promo. It’s beyond things that we say to each other. It’s more than that. It’s when things are physical,” he explained. “If it don’t bother him, it don’t bother me! Truthfully, I still to this day find the whole thing funny because of just how it happened.”
SummerSlam preview and the road ahead
As Cody and Punk prepare to face off at SummerSlam, Saints expects a classic. “I know that it’s already going to be great, and that one is going to be a match that people should really be studying very, very closely for,” he said. “Just because it’s like two jazz musicians just getting up there, and you just let it rip. That’s all that’s gonna happen. You’re just letting it rip.”
Saints noted the “gritty” side is what makes magic. “This is pro wrestling, baby! Where’s the drama? Where’s the excitement? Let’s give it to them,” he chuckled. “Why are we so PR-heavy with being polite?”
His own momentum continues after a recent United States Championship challenge. “That was a good feather in the cap. Obviously, I didn’t get the job done. But doesn’t mean it won’t,” he added. “I’m enjoying it for what it is. I’m no stranger to hard work, let me tell you that.”
SummerSlam streams August 1 and 2 on Netflix. Fans in the UK can watch all WWE action as part of their subscription.
