Ricky Starks has undoubtedly been one of the shining stars of AEW Collision so far, perfectly highlighting how an extra two hours of programming has allowed for AEW to give underutilised talents an opportunity to mark themselves out as a major player.
Likewise, Big Bill has become a brilliant asset to AEW as the smirking, lollypop-chomping cocksure powerhouse who can 'go'.
However, pairing Starks and Bill together on Collision just felt like a downgrade for Absolute.
Pretty Ricky has gone from butting heads with CM Punk, challenging for the Real Worlds Championship, and beating the crap out of an all-time legend like Ricky Steamboat, to now managing a midcard big man in a one-minute squash match.
Yes, Starks can and likely will pick things up once again with Punk once the Second City Saint gets done with Samoa Joe at All In, and yes, Big Bill could possibly work as a piece of the puzzle in Ricky's promised "war" on Punk and AEW, but this week's Collision sadly felt like a bit of a backwards step for Starks in terms of wider perception from the audience.
He may well have a significant role to play at All Out - a strap match against CM Punk, maybe? - but it's absolutely baffling that, by all accounts and purposes, Ricky Starks is being benched for All In. For those of us thinking that the Stroke Daddy getting his manager's license could lead to Starks cornering Samoa Joe against Punker at All In, that looks not to be the case.
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.
