"Someone check on Tony Khan," "THIS IS NOT A DRILLL" - Former AEW star's jaw-dropping WWE debut leaves fans in disbelief

By Tejas Pagare

Modified Feb 12, 2025 03:17 GMT

Triple H and Shawn Michaels are key bookers in WWE [Image Credits: WWE.com] — Triple H and Shawn Michaels [Image credits: WWE.com]

A former AEW star made his WWE debut tonight and fans have been reacting to the new signee of the global sports entertainment juggernaut. Ricky Starks appeared at the latest NXT episode and shook the landscape of the Shawn Michaels-led brand.

The Absolute star was part of AEW but wasn't given the spotlight in a while. The star was pushed to the moon in 2023, wrestled for a couple of months in 2024, and wasn't featured on any show since March last year. Fans have been requesting his release for many months as Tony Khan refused to use him on TV. After months of being underutilized, he was finally released by AEW a couple of days ago.

On tonight's WWE NXT episode, Ricky Starks debuted through the crowd and called himself the 'hottest free agent.' Fans in the arena chanted his name.

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Fans on social media went into a frenzy as the former AEW star made his debut. Many claimed that the appearance happened too quickly as the star wasn't released only a few days back.

Take a look at some of the reactions below:

Fans react to Ricky Starks' NXT debut on X.

It will be interesting to see if Triple H and Co. sign more former AEW stars in WWE now.

About the author

Tejas has been an AEW writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling since 2021. Possessing a degree in Food Processing Technology, it was his brother who introduced him to Sportskeeda, and he has never looked back since.

Tejas’ writing style is analytical and descriptive style, mostly sticking to statistics. He believes in thoroughly checking all statistics and information before using them in his articles to ensure his readers get nothing but the best and most accurate stories. He also does not indulge much in speculation in his content.

His all-time favorite wrestler is Roman Reigns for his journey from being one of the most unlikable babyfaces at the start of his career to one of the greatest modern WWE superstars. If Tejas ever got the chance to go back to the Attitude Era and manage a superstar, it would choose high-flying, risk-taking diminutive entertainer Spike Dudley. Tejas would assure him that he would be involved in long-term storylines, something that he wasn’t part of during his time.

In his free time, Tejas enjoys singing and learning new things.

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Edited by Angana Roy