New champion crowned after WWE Superstar officially relinquishes title

A WWE Superstar recently relinquished his title after making the blockbuster move to The Sports Entertainment Juggernaut. Now, a new champion has finally been crowned at a major event.

Ricky Saints joined WWE shortly after being let go from AEW, appearing on the February 11, 2025, episode of NXT. Before his WWE debut, Saints competed on the independent circuit, even winning the DEFY World Title by defeating KENTA on February 7, 2025. However, he relinquished the gold on February 28 due to his commitments with the Stamford-based promotion.

At the DEFY Aftermath event last night (March 15), NJPW star Clark Connors defeated Starboy Charlie in the Super 8XGP Tournament Finals to become the new DEFY World Champion.

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Former WWE writer has previously made surprising comments on Ricky Saints' future

While speaking during an episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing with Russo, Vince Russo claimed that The Sports Entertainment Juggernaut may not see Ricky Saints as an "impact guy."

According to Russo, there are no glaring issues with The Absolute's character and his in-ring work, but the 35-year-old star will simply fail to draw in new fans.

"Well, I think that's the first question you have to ask yourself—do you think he'll make an impact in WWE? Why is he starting in NXT, bro? I think that tells you everything you need to know right there. If they thought this was an impact guy, he's not starting in NXT. And I just got to tell you, because this is my measuring stick—the guy looks great, the guy can talk, the guy can work, the guy can do all of things. But he's not going to draw one fan. It's the same old thing, that bubble, they're going to go crazy, Ricky [Saints] is here. He ain't going to draw one new fan, bro."

Check out the video below:

It will be interesting to see how long Saints stays in NXT before moving up to the main roster.