On this week’s “NXT: Tuesday Night Therapy”, Ricky Saints proved once again why his waist and the North American Title are in a committed relationship—while Lexis King continues to suffer from a severe case of “I used to be somebody” syndrome.
The bout opened the show, presumably because producers knew the crowd might riot if forced to wait any longer to see two men in more sequins than a Las Vegas buffet waiter try to rearrange each other’s jawlines.
Saints wasted no time reminding Lexis why he is not, in fact, the king of anything. The champ opened with a sequence of strikes and grapples so vicious, Lexis started looking for a referee’s complaint form. King briefly kicked back with a shot to the jaw that made Ricky blink once—then respond with a flurry of moves and a Suplex that screamed, “Please stay down.”
Despite a few moments of hope (and some hard-hitting offense), Lexis’s dreams of a rebound reign ended like most reality show finales—predictable and slightly embarrassing. When Saints reversed The Coronation (King’s finisher, not an actual royal event, unfortunately) into a Tornado DDT, the writing was on the mat. One clean Roshambo later, and Ricky Saints was holding the belt like it just paid off his student loans.
It’s now been 29 days since Saints dethroned Shawn Spears for the title—a reign that’s seen him take down the self-loving Ethan Page and now Lexis King, who apparently thought charisma alone would earn him a belt. As of now, Saints’ next challenger is a mystery, but whoever it is should probably bring more than just a cool nickname and delusions of grandeur.