NXT Star Lifts Lid On Relationship With Shawn Michaels

Shawn Michaels gave an NXT star an instant boost.

Since taking over as the head of NXT, Shawn Michaels has earned a lot of praise for his work in managing the next generation of top WWE stars. This has come from both fans and wrestlers Michaels has mentored.

The latest name to praise Michaels is Ricky Saints. The former AEW star signed with the sports entertainment giant in February 2025, and just seven months later, he captured the NXT Championship, beating Oba Femi at No Mercy.

In a new interview with Busted Open Radio, Saints looked back on his wrestling journey to date and revealed the conversation that let him know Michaels has confidence in him.

“Shawn is awesome, Shawn is great. I remember one time Shawn pulled me aside and he goes, ‘You know, you’re not a typical babyface, I get it’

And it’s always good to have that kind of perspective because too often you have someone’s idea of what something is supposed to be and they try and put it on you and it’s like ‘yeah it ain’t working, this is a square, you have a round object here, it’s not meant to happen’.”

Shawn Michaels Lets Ricky Saints Take The Lead

Expanding further, Saints revealed that he’s given a certain degree of freedom by Michaels, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t restrictions. However, he explained that it’s easier to manage and rein in his more extravagant ideas that put someone in a box without room to try things.

“For the most part, he lets me run free because it’s easier to let somebody run free and then wrangle them in as opposed to you’re putting them in a straight box and they don’t have room to move.

So I think he appreciates that and I of course appreciate it because that’s all I ever wanted. But I’m not at the point where I’m pushing it to the point where we have network’s call or something like that. Maybe one day. Who knows?”

During the same conversation, Ricky Saints admitted that he’s already got an eye on a showdown with Cody Rhodes. The pair have been close friends for several years, and even their two families are close.

Saints believes the pair could make magic, and that their personal history would make an easy story to tell on television.

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H/t to Wrestle Talk