This past week has been a whirlwind for Ricky Starks.
Just a week ago, the former AEW star was stuck in limbo waiting for his contract to expire. Then, Tony Khan opted to let him, Miro, and Malakai Black out of their respective deals. WWE wasted no time in grabbing Ricky Starks as the 34-year-old made his shocking appearance on NXT this past Tuesday.
Though many feel that Starks is ready for the main roster, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported that WWE’s newest acquisition was put on the developmental brand because officials already have their plans in place on the main roster. With NXT, the plans are more fluid, so Starks can be thrust into the spotlight quite easily. Though he didn’t say much, Ricky got plenty of fans excited over what’s to come in the future.
However, independent fans might not be too thrilled with Mr Starks. Before his AEW release, Ricky was working plenty of independent dates. In fact, Starks just won the DEFY World Championship last weekend. But with him now being an NXT star, his commitment to the indie scene will be fading fast, as evidenced by Starks being forced to withdraw from the Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling event this Saturday. Starks was originally scheduled to fight Aaron Solo.
Interestingly enough, this Saturday is NXT’s Vengeance Day PLE. All signs point to him returning, even though his appearance has yet to be confirmed. If Starks does show up at Vengeance Day, what will he do at the PLE? We’ll surely find out this Saturday! Vengeance Day has five matches scheduled for the pay-per-view card with the NXT Championship match between Oba Femi, Austin Theory, and Grayson Waller expected to headline the show.
As for the DEFY World Championship, there’s no word on what the plans are going forward. It’s possible that Ricky Starks will vacate the title, but it also wouldn’t be surprising if he dropped the belt in a match. If Karl Anderson can still do Wrestle Kingdom 17 to lose the NEVER Openweight title to Tama Tonga while under WWE contract then it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for Starks to take a loss as well.