Ricky Starks continues to rise up the ranks of All Elite Wrestling.
All Elite Wrestling’s Ricky Starks recently sat down with Blake Oestriecher of Forbes to discuss a wide variety of subjects. When asked about his current position in the company, Starks sees himself as a main event player.
“Even before I was born, I think I was always meant to be a main eventer,” Ricky Starks said. “In any situation, any company, any place anywhere in this world, I’m a main eventer, first and foremost…Within the AEW world, I’m definitely a main eventer. I’ve been doing it for 11 years and really had to maul my way through the independent scene, especially when I wasn’t a big name and when I wasn’t someone that everyone knew of.”
The FTW Champion has been getting some very positive reactions on AEW Dynamite and Rampage lately. His latest appearance in his hometown of New Orleans elicited a very emotional response from Starks as the crowd was very open with the love they have for the AEW star.
“Very positive,” Ricky Starks said, “I’m beloved in any city that I go to… I try not to even indulge in the negative stuff and focus mainly on the positive. It’s cool to see that the new people who have never seen me before are just as impressed with it, [as] entertained by it as the OG fans. I went from watching my first live event in 2001 at the Smoothie King Arena to watching Undertaker vs John Cena at the SuperDome and then coming to the Lakefront Arena and wrestling in front of my hometown. On the indies, I felt that…I wasn’t getting these opportunities that other people were that I knew I was just as equipped for, if not better.”
The independent scene was a long road for Ricky Starks, but he never thought about quitting the business because he felt that he’d gotten too far to give up on his dreams.
“There wasn’t ever a moment where I thought about quitting because my thing is, like, man, you’ve come so far,” Ricky Starks said. “And you’ve slept on couches and you’ve slept in cars, and you’ve been homeless, you’ve been living paycheck to paycheck. Why give up now? And even then if you give up now, you’ve got to start over again.”
All Elite Wrestling’s roster continues to strengthen and grow each month, and while some might be upset about having to share television time with the new stars, Starks likes the challenge as he knows what he brings to the table.
“I like the challenge because I think I can have chemistry with anybody I wrestle,” Rick Starks said. “So I think it’s cool to have such a big mix of talent that we have on our roster…I don’t concern myself with that [adding wrestlers] because the people that they bring in, those people can’t do exactly what I can. They don’t bring to the table exactly what Ricky Starks can bring to the table. We have so many talented men and women…and it’s about getting in where you can fit in. And so, it’s not always the best plan of action, but it’s the best plan that we have right now.”
What do you make of Ricky Starks’ comments? How bright do you think his future is in All Elite Wrestling? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.
