Ricky Saints Reflects On Being A Role Model For Younger Wrestlers

Ricky Saints says he still doesn’t quite see himself as a trailblazer for the next generation of wrestlers, even after 14 years in the business. In new comments, Saints — who has worked for multiple promotions including AEW and is now signed to WWE — admitted that being viewed as an inspiration to up-and-coming talent isn’t something he ever set out to be, or something he’s fully processed even now.

Saints’ candor here is notable simply because of how long he’s been in the ring. Fourteen years is a significant career arc in modern pro wrestling, a sport where roster turnover, promotional jumps, and shifting styles can make longevity itself a rare achievement. Having competed in AEW before landing in WWE, Saints has seen the industry from multiple angles — different locker rooms, different audiences, different creative philosophies — which naturally puts him in a position where younger wrestlers might look to his path as a blueprint.

That’s exactly the kind of status Saints seems hesitant to claim for himself. It’s a common thread among veteran performers: the wrestlers who end up mentoring or influencing the next wave often don’t recognize that role until it’s pointed out to them by others, whether that’s rookies backstage, fans online, or reporters asking about legacy. Saints framing his own inspiration status as something he “never really thought of himself as” suggests a performer more focused on the day-to-day grind of the job than on how his body of work is perceived from the outside.

For WWE, having a wrestler with Saints’ resume and multi-promotion pedigree on the roster carries real value beyond whatever spot he currently occupies on a card. Veterans who’ve competed across AEW and WWE bring a different kind of credibility to a locker room stocked with younger talent trying to find their footing, and companies increasingly lean on tenured performers to help shape how prospects carry themselves, both in matches and in interviews. Whether or not Saints sees himself as a mentor figure, the industry has a way of assigning that role to wrestlers who’ve simply stuck around long enough to have stories worth learning from.

It also speaks to a broader shift in how longevity gets talked about in wrestling media right now. As more performers from the 2010s independent boom and the AEW-era talent influx settle into established roles on the biggest stages, conversations about legacy and influence are becoming more common — not because those wrestlers are winding down, but because enough time has passed for the next generation to point to them as proof of what a career arc can look like.

Saints didn’t offer specifics on which younger wrestlers he might have influenced, but the acknowledgment alone is worth watching. As he continues his run in WWE, it’ll be worth seeing whether he leans into that mentor-adjacent identity more, or continues to shrug it off as something that simply isn’t how he views his own journey.