Louisiana’s Own Ricky Saints Wants to Make History As WWE Champ

Ricky Saints, Louisiana's rising star in WWE, isn't turning on the cruise control after winning his first championship gold in NXT. Fresh off his North American Championship win, Saints said in an interview that his ambitions are aiming higher than any NXT North American Champion has done before.

With a blossoming relationship between WWE and TNA, could Ricky Saints be the first NXT North American Champion to defend the championship belt outside of NXT?

Former AEW Star Looks to Create WWE History

During an interview with content creator MuscleMan Malcolm, NXT North American Champion Ricky Saints was asked about who he thinks he might face off with next for his title. Saints told Malcolm, "I will say this, the current roster that we have from Raw, SmackDown, and NXT, each brand perks my interest in some way, right? And so I think it would be great to defend this title against anybody from those brands in itself."

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An NXT champion defending their title against athletes from outside of the brand's locker room is not unheard of. Previously, stars from WWE's flagship shows Raw and SmackDown have wrestled for the NXT Men's, Women's, and even Tag Team championships, but the North American Championship has only been contested for by wrestlers from the NXT brand.

Ricky Saints clearly wants to make waves in the history books of wrestling, and being the first North American Champion to defend the belt against a more seasoned athlete from the Raw or SmackDown roster would do exactly that.

Interestingly, Saints' comments come right at a time when WWE and its NXT brand have created a working relationship with veteran wrestling promotion TNA. Many NXT champions and TNA champions have made history and defended their championships against wrestlers from the other brand, but so far, one championship has completely avoided the working relationship between the two companies.

Could Ricky Saints be the first North American Champion to defend his title belt against a non-NXT wrestler, and could that next challenger be waiting in the TNA locker room?