Well, that was fast.
Ricky Starks No Longer On GCW
Ricky Starks showed up at GCW’s event this past weekend and spoke up his contract being “frozen-out” with AEW. It was then revealed that Ricky Starks would take on Matt Cardona at GCW ok December 14th. Now, that’s not the case.
Fightful Select first reported that AEW has now pulled Ricky Starks from that match. GCW then tweeted out that not only was he pulled from December 14, but two other upcoming appearances in Seattle and New York.
Ricky Starks has had a wild week.
This past weekend, Ricky Starks made an appearance at GCW, where he spoke about being “frozen out” within AEW. On November 26, Fightful reported that AEW had picked up his option last spring and his deal goes into 2025. The same day, he had an interview with Chris Van Vliet that spoke about his absence from AEW TV.
GCW sources claim to Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp that Ricky Starks has been pulled from all planned upcoming appearances with the company by AEW. We’re told the decision was made on November 26 and relayed to Starks. Among the reasons we’re told that AEW pulled Starks were comments made by Effy towards Tony Khan’s father, Shad. We don’t have context on those comments yet and are seeking out the information.
There were some within AEW that had suggested working his GCW appearance into a work, but we’re told that wasn’t the case.
Sean Ross Sapp then followed it up on twitter by revealing the context behind EFFY’s comments and says Ricky can work other independents, just not GCW.
We’re told that AEW had taken exception to GCW talent Effy bringing up Shad Khan on a recent podcast, in regards to AEW running Hammerstein ballroom, and Shad effectively paying Tony Khan to stay away. After that, AEW was not interested in having Ricky Starks work GCW.
AEW also says that Ricky Starks is able to take other independent dates from other companies.
Ricky Starks was backstage at AEW Full Gear Saturday night and seemed to be welcomed. But, it’s clear some sort of issue remains. It’ll be interesting to see if AEW uses him on TV or not.
H/T Fightful Select
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