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Ricky Saints to Face Oba Femi for NXT Championship at No Mercy

Originally posted on The Sportster | By Kellie Crawford | Last updated Aug 27, 2025 8:06 PM ET

Ricky Saints defeated Josh Briggs to earn an NXT Title shot vs. Oba Femi at NXT No Mercy (Sept 27, 2025).
Femi and Saints were attacked by DarkState; next week they team with Hank & Tank in an eight-man tag.
Saints joined WWE Feb 2025, became NXT North American Champion April 1, later lost it to Ethan Page.

This past Tuesday’s episode of WWE NXT revealed who will be facing the current NXT Champion, Oba Femi, at the upcoming NXT No Mercy PLE on September 27, 2025. The WWE NXT Title No. 1 Contender's Match was between Ricky Saints and Josh Briggs.

Ricky Saints Faces Josh Briggs

It was NXT General Manager Ava Raine who decided to have the number one contendership match later that night because Briggs cut Saints’ promo at the start of the show. The two traded words, and Raine decided to have them deal with their problems in the ring.

The almost 13-minute match saw Saints get the victory with a tornado DDT. His going on to face Femi is only fitting, since Starks came out at the end of the last NXT PLE Heatwave after Femi had successfully defended his NXT Title against Je'Von Evans.

After Saints defeated Briggs to earn his shot, he called out the champion. Femi and Saints proceeded to exchange barbs, though they were interrupted and attacked by DarkState. Hank & Tank came out to help them against the villainous stable. Now the champion and challenger are going to have to coexist next week because it was made official that Hank & Tank, Ricky Saints, and Oba Femi will face DarkState (Dion Lennox, Cutler James, Saquon Shugars, and Osiris Griffin) in an eight-man tag match.

Ricky Saints’ NXT Career So Far

Saints signed with WWE in February 2025, after being with AEW since June 2020. His first feud was against Ethan Page. His first NXT match was on February 25, where he teamed with Je’Von Evans to defeat Page and Wes Lee. It didn’t take long for Saints to get his first title in WWE. He defeated Shawn Spears on the April 1 episode of NXT and became the NXT North American Champion.

This is where his and Page’s feud really intensified. The first time, Saints was successful in retaining the NXT North American Title against Page at the Stand & Deliver on April 19, but a month later, things would be different. It was on the May 27 episode of NXT, where Page defeated Saints for the title.

As of this writing, Page is still the champion. Though Saints did get another chance to win back the title, it was at The Great American Bash in a Falls Count Anywhere match. Sadly, things didn’t turn out for him, though now he’s in the NXT Championship picture.

This article first appeared on The Sportster and was syndicated with permission.

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