While AEW has faced some criticism from some people for its accumulation of ex-WWE stars, FTW Champion Ricky Starks doesn’t seem to be too concerned with his spot in AEW.
Starks made his debut in the promotion in June of 2020 as part of, then TNT Champion, Cody Rhodes’ “Open Challenge”. Since then, AEW has brought in the likes of CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, and Claudio Castagnoli, among others.
While speaking to Nick Hausman of Wrestling Inc., Ricky Starks was asked whether or not seeing the signing of former WWE stars gives him a chip on his shoulder.
“No, not at all,” he replied. “I don’t believe in having a chip on my shoulder because that makes me a whiny little bitch. But what I do believe in is, these people who come in and the attitude of a higher-than, and we are a less-than, you get what I’m saying? I think it should be noted that there’s a reason those people don’t work there anymore, and we should look at the facts of why.”
Ricky Starks
Starks went on to describe the way he and his tag team partner, Powerhouse Hobbs, stood strong throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and how they’ve shown that they’re ahead of their competition.
“So when they get in the ring, and they stand across the ring from me or Hobbs, we have proven to people, by contrast, exactly what they left or why they got kicked out or whatever happened. We have proven that me and Hobbs, the people who have been here through the pandemic, man, who came in around the same time, we proved exactly that me and Hobbs are better, if not levels, I mean levels, above these guys. I don’t care who you are. And you can put this in the headlines of the dirt sheets. I don’t give a shit who you are. You can’t come in here and act like you’re way better than me or Hobbs. It ain’t gonna happen, Jack. Not as long as I got breath in my lungs.”
Ricky Starks
We’ll have to wait and see what’s next for Starks and his partner Hobbs as the two unsuccessfully challenged for the AEW World Tag Team Championships on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite.
