Where has Ricky Starks been on AEW? “Absolute” is completely cleared to wrestle but one of the company’s biggest stars on the rise has been nowhere to be seen since being hurt months back on AEW Collision.
Starks took a nasty DDT during Tag Title Tournament match on Collision. He ended up taking a full three count, allowing Top Flight to advance. Reports were that Starks and his partner Big Bill were supposed to advance. However, the potential injury to Ricky prompted an immediate audible.
Of all things, Reddit conjured up the discussion of Starks, and Fightful decided to look into the situation. Some of their AEW sources claim that Starks turned down pitches to be on television. A different source said that the only pitch Starks turned down was breaking up with Big Bill. The plan was to turn Bill full heel and Starks babyface, but Starks reportedly believed a contentious break-up wouldn’t benefit either. Starks reportedly wasn’t particularly happy with the lack of follow-up to his memorable match with Bryan Danielson.
There was also speculation that Starks wasn’t allowed in Calgary due to legal matters, but those rumors have been dispelled. Starks is not in the men’s bracket of The Owen Hart Cup after winning the tournament in 2023. Ricky defeated CM Punk in the finals of the tournament last year.
Regarding Starks’ interest in WWE, Fightful states there is a contingency in AEW who believe WWE is a goal. That notion makes complete sense considering that he’s close friends with Cody Rhodes, Jade Cargill and CM Punk. It was actually Rhodes who brought Starks into the AEW fold. Starks was one of the names during COVID to challenge ‘The American Nightmare’ for the TNT Championship.