WWE Concern! WWE Change Ricky Starks Name! Hardy Boyz WWE Return! AJ Styles Update | WrestleTalk - video Dailymotion

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#WWE #RickyStarks #HardyBoyz Are you excited for Starks in WWE? Let us know in the comments! WrestleTalk Patreon 👉   / wrestletalk   WrestleMania 27 Review! 👉    • WWE WrestleMania 27 Review | The Rock...   More wrestling news on https://wrestletalk.com/ Unlock the secrets to working in professional wrestling, sign up to https://www.wrestlingmasterclass.com/ 00:00 - Coming up... 00:16 - AEW Ring Size Controversy 01:38 - WWE Announce More Titles 02:47 - Concern Over WWE ID System 03:55 - Ricky Saints Signs With NXT 09:00 - AJ Styles WWE Deal Over? WWE Concern! WWE Change Ricky Starks Name! Hardy Boyz WWE Return! AJ Styles Update | WrestleTalk #WWE #RickyStarks #HardyBoyz  Buy WrestleTalk Merch here! https://wrestleshop.com/   Sources used for research: https://wrestletalk.com/news/wwe-evol...  https://www.cagesideseats.com/wwe/202...  https://wrestletalk.com/news/ricky-st... https://wrestletalk.com/news/ricky-st...  https://wrestletalk.com/news/ricky-st... https://wrestletalk.com/news/the-hard...  https://wrestletalk.com/news/top-tna-...  https://www.ringsidenews.com/2025/02/...   DailyMotion Channel Comments Policy We appreciate the comments and opinions our viewers provide. Do note that all comments are subject to DailyMotion auto-moderation and manual moderation review. We encourage opinions and discussion, but harassment, hate speech, bullying and other abusive posts will not be tolerated. Decisions on comment removal are made by the Community Manager. Please email us at support@wrestletalk.com with any questions or concerns.

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00:00AJ Styles' WWE deal is apparently running out, concern over WWE's new Evolve project,

00:07WWE change Ricky Starks' name and more.

00:10I'm Oli Saints, and this is the WrestleTalk News.

00:16Like my proctologist always tells me, it's not the size of the ring that counts, it's

00:20how many cool moves you can do inside it.

00:22But AEW oddly experienced their own ring problems over Grand Slam weekend, where a small but

00:28vocal portion of wrestling fans criticised the company for using a fractionally smaller

00:33ring than normal on their Australia-based event.

00:35AEW and WWE both use 20x20 foot rings.

00:39These are relatively massive.

00:41WCW used to use 18x18 feet ones, which is a reason why their cruiserweight matches felt

00:46so fast paced.

00:47Most independent promotions in the US also use 18x18.

00:51Over here in the UK, the standard is 16x16, because our scout huts are smaller.

00:56So rather than lug a 20x20 foot ring from the US to Australia, AEW apparently sourced

01:01the best local ring they could find, Go Environment, which was an 18x18 one.

01:07And I guess because the show ended up being really great, some people had to find something

01:10else to critique.

01:11Or maybe it's all just a matter of perspective, as legendary AEW tag team The Outrunners have

01:18now revealed.

01:19Breaking news!

01:20Inside sources confirmed the ring wasn't smaller, it just looked that way when Los

01:24Outrunners were in it.

01:26WWE wrestlers and fans are going to have to get used to rings other than 20 foot across,

01:30because Triple H has just unveiled the next step in his evil plan for world domination.

01:34I mean the large corporation's totally benevolent grassroots scheme.

01:38Because NXT has now gotten so big it needs its own NXT, WWE will be launching a new brand

01:43called Evolve on the 5th March.

01:45Ironically using the Evolve name that was once a thriving indie promotion in the 2010s

01:50that WWE purchased and then shuttered for five years.

01:53The show will be broadcast on 2B in the US and on YouTube for the rest of the world.

01:57And it will have its own male and female champions, bringing WWE's total number of active title

02:03belts to 21.

02:06For comparison, AEW, including their ROH brand, has 15.

02:10The most Machiavellian, I mean interesting part of WWE's new Evolve project, though,

02:15is how it ties into their ID development scheme.

02:18When that was first announced last year, it was hailed as an incredibly positive step

02:22for the industry, providing independent wrestlers a pathway from starting out at approved training

02:27schools, doing their first shows, and then potentially being picked up by WWE.

02:32Signees would get financial opportunity and assistance with training, mentorship and development.

02:38For an occasionally dodgy business at the bottom level, having WWE approved schools

02:43could be an important step into making professional wrestling safer for everyone.

02:48But then it was announced wrestlers signed to the ID scheme would have matches with stakes

02:53on the independent scene, which Triple H has now confirmed is to do with the ID title belts.

02:59Which in typical WWE style, has the name of the belt in massive letters slap bang in the

03:03middle.

03:04The first WWE ID champions will be determined in a tournament across the top independent

03:09wrestling promotions.

03:10The WWE ID championships will then be defended on the indies.

03:15The concern is that WWE won't let their ID champions lose when they appear on independent

03:20level shows, which limits what those promotions can book.

03:24It's essentially the old NWA championship in the territory system.

03:27The difference there was that all the wrestling promotions involved voted on who the champion

03:32would be.

03:33Here, it's one giant company imposing who they want to push on the rest of the industry.

03:39It could work out.

03:40It could elevate the US independent scene by being attached to WWE.

03:44But there is a long history of it never working in similar ways before.

03:49Like how WWE's NXT UK project essentially gutted this country's thriving business

03:54even before the pandemic.

03:56Over in WWE's no longer really a developmental system NXT, while it's not the most viewed

04:00brand, it's kind of become the hottest under Shawn Michaels' booking, with it consistently

04:05hugely beating ratings expectations since it moved to the CW late last year.

04:10The most recent influx of talent was the shock debut of Ricky Starks on last Tuesday's

04:15episode, who was reportedly only released from his AEW contract the day before.

04:19He only appeared briefly in the crowd on that episode, so this week we had a full in-ring

04:24segment with Ava, where he signed his NXT contract for his new name, Ricky Saints.

04:31Saints spoke on Busted Open Radio afterwards, explaining the re-gimmick.

04:34It's as close as you're going to get the Starks.

04:37I like the name.

04:38It's going to take time for them to get used to it.

04:40I respect that they care so deeply about me that they rebel against the name change.

04:45But at the same time, I am a product of New Orleans, first and foremost, and I want to

04:49pay respect to that as well.

04:51I think that this is the best of both worlds, and that means a lot to me.

04:55But Saints by name isn't necessarily by nature, as he then went on to talk about his

04:58frustrating final years in AEW.

05:01I can't tell you exactly what the moment was.

05:04You could say it was punk leaving and things kind of fell apart.

05:07Absolutely, I probably agree with you on that, alright.

05:10Or you could say that Ricky didn't play the politics well enough.

05:13Alright, for sure.

05:14There's so many things you can say.

05:16What I can say for myself is that when I got hurt in March, that was it.

05:20I never came back.

05:22And even then, I wasn't hurt.

05:24It was a precaution thing where I got scared as I had a stinger.

05:27Then I was fine.

05:28After that, no.

05:29No dice.

05:30No communication.

05:31No nothing.

05:32I don't know explicitly where it went wrong.

05:34I can't point to one thing.

05:36I can say it was a storm of things, probably.

05:39Did I do something that may have tipped them off?

05:41Sure.

05:42Asking for my release whenever you know.

05:43This past whatever.

05:45That could have been about it, right?

05:46But never once was I not willing to do something.

05:49Never once was I sabotaging anything.

05:52Last year, it was reported Ricky rejected the idea of his tag team partner Big Bill

05:55turning heel on him.

05:57It's unknown where that creative pitch came from, but it seems Saints became frustrated

06:01with some of the more senior wrestlers on the roster.

06:04I will say this, there are some people who stuck their nose in my creative business that

06:09shouldn't have happened.

06:10Veterans.

06:11And that's it.

06:12I'll leave it at that.

06:13And if they got a problem with me, they got my number and text me about it.

06:17I think what it was, is if it didn't work for their creative, then someone had to get

06:22the boot.

06:23That's how I see it.

06:24But I'm not trying to be negative in my thought process about it.

06:27If you want to step on me to get ahead in your illustrious career, everyone has an illustrious

06:31career.

06:32Everyone should have an illustrious career.

06:34That is perfectly fine.

06:35But at the same time, I'm not wet behind my ears.

06:38NXT have confirmed Saints' debut match will take place on next Tuesday's episode, where

06:43he'll team with Javon Evans against Wesley and fellow AEW alumni Ethan Page.

06:48But that's not the only huge story Head Chef Shawn has got cooking.

06:52The No Quarter catch crew called out the TNA Tag Team Champions Matt and Jeff Hardy also

06:57on this episode.

06:58Matt Hardy's replied in a video on social media where they confirmed they'll appear

07:03on next week's show in a match against them.

07:06This will be the Hardy Boys' first WWE appearance as a team since their SmackDown tag title

07:10run in 2019.

07:12But the most exciting was the shock appearance of TNA's ex-Division Champion Moose, who

07:18came out in the opening segment of NXT to challenge over Femi for his title.

07:23Femi accepted, but an official date wasn't given.

07:26In the meantime, Moose will defend his ex-Division title against Lexus King on next week's

07:31episode.

07:32Before I get into this video's final story about AJ Styles' WWE status, here's a

07:36very special message… from Turbo Jack.

07:39I'M AIDAN'S WRESTLER TURBO JACK ON THE ROAD TO TURBOMANIA.

07:43WE'RE IN A DAY NOW, NEW YORK'S GONNA CALL OL' TURBO JACK IN FOR ONE LAST MATCH.

07:56MANIFEST.

07:57MANIFEST.

07:58MANIFEST THE CALL.

07:59While Turbo Jack waits, all you Turbs should go over to Patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk

08:12where you can watch the whole complete break-up of the Shield series with Luke and Oli.

08:17And if you supported the $30 tier, you get a shoutout from Turbo Jack on this very show.

08:24My Big Jiggy Josh Martin, Born To Do It Evan Shibley, Abominable Michael Abbott, The Machine

08:30Gun Alex Anderson, He's A Sexy Man, A Land You'll Gross Man, Born and Brommy Brett

08:40Linfoff, Go Ace, The Ace of Spades Adrian Santil and The Cleaner Kenny Schur.

08:47Go to Patreon.com forward slash WrestleTalk right now to get your own shoutout and loads

08:53AJ Styles returned to WWE from an ankle injury at the Royal Rumble, after which he was quickly

09:05drafted to the Raw brand.

09:07Ever since, he's been building an Intercontinental title feud with Brom Breaker, including catching

09:11Brom's torn off shirt while not even looking at it.

09:15It was awesome.

09:16But AJ's injury and return has overshadowed his contract status backstage, as Fightful

09:21is reporting his WWE deal is due to expire in the next few months, and it's a significant

09:27enough situation that external companies are seeing if they can book him.

09:31As for whether he re-signs, I know that people in the convention scene, the merchandising

09:36scene, all that stuff, were definitely inquiring about the possibility of him being available

09:42soon.

09:43By the time he got injured, from what I understood, it was only a matter of months before his

09:47contract was up.

09:48Fightful did note that it's a pretty solid possibility that AJ would re-sign with WWE,

09:53but they are unsure about what his priorities are right now.

09:56AJ has been saying since 2019 that the deal he signed back then would be his last, as

10:02he wants to focus on his family and be there for his kids.

10:05He'll be turning 48 this year.

10:07Fantasy booking pitch, it's all a ruse, and he shows up in TNA.

10:11mine and Luke's epic WrestleMania 28 review is out this Sunday, so catch up on our WrestleMania

10:1627 review with maybe the worst WrestleMania main event of all time by clicking the video

10:23onscreen now.

WWE Concern! WWE Change Ricky Starks Name! Hardy Boyz WWE Return! AJ Styles Update | WrestleTalk

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