WWE Superstar Ricky Saints was selling Xboxes for Microsoft before he got into professional wrestling full-time.
Saints recounted the time he failed at a World Wrestling Entertainment tryout, forcing him to go back to Microsoft and tell a lie so that they would hire him back.
Ricky Saints Talks About His First WWE Tryout While Working for Microsoft
Saints proudly stated that he started out in October 2011 in the professional wrestling industry. A few months later, WWE called him for a tryout. During this time, he met Jinder Mahal (aka Raj Dhesi) and Cody Rhodes.
Speaking to The American Nightmare on What Do You Wanna Talk About? With Cody Rhodes, Saints admitted to a lie. He had to go back to Microsoft after bragging about getting a call from WWE. When his tryout failed, he convinced his previous employer that he was simply having a rough time at work, which is why he had failed to show up for a brief period.
[Ricky Saints] I literally tell this girl [his colleague], ‘Hey, I’m about to get signed with WWE, I don’t need this, see ya.’ And I left, I didn’t come back after my break. Unfortunately, I went and did extra work with Jinder [Mahal], that’s when I met you [Cody Rhodes]. [But then] I had to go back to work. I had to tell them I was having a rough day.
[Cody Rhodes] Did you go back to Microsoft?
Yes, I did. I showed up on time. And I said, ‘Hey guys, that wasn’t me. I just had a lot going on for me. My dog died. Didn’t have a dog at the time. I definitely lied to save my own a**. For sure, absolutely I will. I will always lie to save my own a** […] It got me back in, and they immediately put me on the floor and I had to sell these Xboxes.”
Saints was signed with AEW between 2020 and 2025, where he wrestled under the ring name Ricky Starks. In February this year, he made his WWE debut in NXT, making a quick impact at the sports entertainment capital.
Interestingly, there have been internal talks to have Saints join Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman’s faction on WWE RAW soon. Whether this becomes a reality bears watching.