The Ricky Starks drama has been a whirlwind for the AEW star.
Coming into 2024, it seemed as if Starks was on the rise to the main event scene. Starks was originally in a feud with CM Punk before the WWE Champion was fired following the backstage brawl at All In. But AEW pivoted and Starks fought Daniel Bryan in a star-making match that’s considered one of the best in 2023. Starks came into 2024 as the AEW World Tag Team Champion, but once he dropped those belts with Big Bill, he simply vanished from television altogether.
At this point, it seems clear why Tony Khan is keeping the 34-year-old off of television. While there’s no concrete proof of Khan’s reasoning for keeping a healthy Starks on the sidelines, there’s simply no other explanation especially since Ricky has made it clear that he wants to work.
Starks has been doing various independent shows as of late, with the AEW star facing a former colleague - Mike Santana. At House of Glory’s Watch the Throne event in Chicago, Santana successfully retained the World Heavyweight Championship and he had some nice things to say about Starks.
However, Starks was handed a microphone and cut a fiery promo about his future within this business, “So I’m not going to leave this to interpretation. So I’m gonna say it as plainly as this, I cannot thank each and every one of you, from sitting over there for the meet n’ greet. For reading your messages, asking if I’m mentally okay, asking if I’m good, checking on me. You don’t know me from shit, but that’s the thing about this wrestling shit, it don’t matter.
“We’re all a part of one thing. I have loved wrestling since I was seven, I told my mom I would buy her a house off of this, and god damn it, I have done that. And I am close to giving her anything else that she wants. I don’t take anything easy, I take it the hard way. I take things the way that I want to. If the road ain’t paved with cement, guess what? I guess I’m putting on my construction hat, and I’m going to work.
“If you thought that I was somebody less than a year ago, guess what? You’re sadly mistaken because I have evolved to a man four years from today, and that’s saying something because a lot of y’all have not seen anything yet from me. With the last dying breath in this New Orleans heart, I tell you this, I’m gonna stay absolute til I d-i-e. You heard? And you best believe that I’m gonna make sure I make a quick trip back here to Chicago.”