AEW wrestler Ricky Starks was recently a guest on the “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” podcast. During the podcast, Starks discussed his current position in AEW, his extended break from television, working with MJF, among other topics.
Here are some noteworthy sections from the discussion:
About his hiatus from AEW TV this year: “My last outing was in March. I’ve been spending a lot of time at home, and I’ve been in good health the whole time. Despite not having any injury, I did experience a stinger during my match with Top Flight in March. Although I got checked out immediately and was given the all-clear, it did initially concern me. So, I then took some time off at home. This break has been rather challenging, especially considering I’m presently in my prime career-wise. It’s a wrench in the gears to have all this momentum, to be on this upward trajectory, and then suddenly to have to stay at home. Right now, I’m not intended to be a hermit. I’m not designed to stay at home, doing nothing when I’ve been grinding for the past 13 years to be where I am now.”
Regarding the mystery of him not getting booked: “Who knows honestly? I can come up with a thousand conjectures about what the real deal is, but if I don’t have a concrete answer, I can’t fabricate one for people. Do I want to figure it out? Definitely. But making assumptions based on speculations doesn’t help the situation. So, for now, it’s a waiting game, although it’s been a frigid day here in Austin, I have my sweater ready, to keep pushing through.”
About his promo standoff with MJF: “There’ve been several occurrences where I’ve demonstrated I’m more of a troll than Max. In Austin, right after my match, I delivered a spectacular promo on him. I tripped on my words, but I like it, it adds authenticity to the promo. It is similar to a rapper freestyling on a beat, occasionally stumbling but never stopping. That was my moment, showing everyone my prowess. And it was apparent in that moment that there was a dynamic chemistry between Max and me.”
On drawing parallels with The Rock: “I haven’t put much thought into it. It’s known who my favorite wrestler is. I admired The Rock, yes, but I’m not him, this is me. I just happen to be a good-looking fellow, and that’s okay. I do what I do and wear what I like, independent of anybody else. I’m not plagiarizing anyone’s style, and if I were, I’d admit it upfront. I represent an advancement of a design, resembling New Orleans, the place from where I hail. If anyone accuses me of copying, I’m copying from the people of New Orleans. That’s my identity.”
Below is an embedded video of the full interview with Ricky Starks.
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