7 Ups & 5 Downs For AEW Collision (26 August)

3. Ricky Stark's "Bigger Strap"

AEW Collision Big Bill Ricky Starks
AEW

Last week, pairing Ricky Starks with Big Bill got a Down for being somewhat of a downgrade for Absolute, but there was just about enough this week to warrant a mild Up.

The reason for that prior Down was due to the fact that Starks had gone from a hot feud with CM Punk - complete with a rare pinfall win over Punk, a Real Worlds Title match, and an assault on the legendary Ricky Steamboat - to merely being the manager of Big Bill.

Unless Ricky is injured or there's other issues at play, creatively it's a total back step to have Starks in his current role, and even more insulting to not have him on the All In card. Alas, it does thankfully feel that the Stroke Daddy has something more substantial on the horizon after this week's Collision.

Big Bill decimated Vary Morales in less than two minutes, but it was the post-match promo from Ricky Starks which proved most interesting. Being the scumbag that he is, Starks whipped Morales with Steamboat's belt, before proclaiming how he'll back next week with "a bigger strap".

Your writer did speculate last week that maybe we could get Starks and CM Punk in a strap match at All Out, though if that is the case, as with so many other All Out bouts, there's only one week to get that set in motion. But the prospect of these two locking horns once again, with the added meat of Big Bill backing up Ricky? That's certainly an intriguing proposition.

Advertisement
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.