— It didn’t take long for former AEW star Ricky Starks to debut in WWE as he made a notable debut during last night’s NXT show. Even though he nor the commentators referenced him by name, the audience knew it and began chanting it repeatedly. While nobody knew he was going to be debuting yesterday, word of him being at the WWE Performance Center began circulating around 30 minutes before the show went on air.

— Fightfulselect.com reports that internally, that was the expected reaction and not mentioning Starks by name wasn’t an accident though it’s not clear why as that is his real name so it isn’t a trademark infringement or anything like that. The report adds that once Starks officially was released from his AEW contract and became a free agent, the deal to bring him to WWE came together very quickly. While WWE had not communicated their interest to Starks as far back as December, it was all but a given that the company would work to sign him when he became available.

— The fightful report adds that the reason WWE introduced him on NXT rather than either of the main brands is because much of the creative on Raw and Smackdown is already planned with WrestleMania 41 around the corner while over on NXT, the creative situation is “much more fluid” and more conducive to working Starks into the fold and into storylines.