8 Ups & 1 Down From AEW Dynamite (24 Aug)
3. Ricky Starks, Fire-Spitter
Like Christian Cage, Ricky Starks' promo suffered from the crowd being a tad burnt out following the pure chaos of Jon Moxley vs. CM Punk, though the former Team Taz delivered on every conceivable level.
This was the red-hot, fired-up Starks fans have come to expect over the past few months. Preceding even his split with Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricky has been in the form of his life on the microphone. He is coming of age as a fully-rounded television performer inside the ring and elsewhere, with this the latest example of that.
Starks' core point was that Hobbs was a background character before Ricky brought him into the spotlight. That Hobbs had the nerve to be upset at him for their inability to become World Tag Team Champions is therefore unacceptable. Now, Hobbs is a snake, and where Ricky's from, they cut the head off snakes.
The feud's next chapter will likely come at All Out, where the duo's excellent onscreen chemistry should yield a great match.