Update On Ricky Starks' AEW Status

Having bafflingly only wrestled for AEW five times so far in 2024 (and once for Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling), many have questioned what's happening with Ricky Starks right now. And on that topic, we've got somewhat of an update.

Having recently sat down and grabbed some time with Absolute - an interview that will be coming to WhatCulture Wrestling's YouTube and podcast platforms imminently - we were able to broach the matter of Starks' current status, with the former AEW Tag Team Champion having not been seen on company programming since he and Big Bill lost to Top Flight on an episode of Collision back in March.

Following rumblings that Ricky may be dealing with an injury issue in the aftermath of that Top Flight bout, that is not the case.

As the Stroke Daddy detailed:

"I'm not hurt. Even that night [against Top Flight], I specifically stated, 'Hey, I'm not hurt'. I was just being cautious about it. At that moment, I didn't know what was happening, especially with this [left] side of my body. So, I wasn't hurt and I was never put on an injury list or anything like that. I have no answer. People ask me all the time [about being absent from TV]. I don't know, I have no clue. That isn't up to me. It does suck, obviously, to not be on TV, but the support and people online and people who send me messages is very, very sweet and endearing, and very encouraging from that standpoint. I didn't know that that was... I'm trying to think, six matches this year? That's a small number, y'know, compared to what I was doing the years prior. Honestly, man, I don't bulls**t anybody, I don't try to play with anybody's life or anything like that. I just kind of stick to myself and I just also operate in the belief that my work will carry me through any obstacle. And I still believe that."

Continuing, Starks added:

"There weren't any specific statements of 'This guy's injured'. I remember seeing a list that was floating around, that wasn't even verified. I was getting so aggravated, because people would send me a text message or something like that. 'Are you hurt? What's going on?' 'No, I'm not hurt, I don't know who's doing this'. So, when I went to get my physical, people alluded to, 'Well, he was there to get cleared'. No bro, I was just there to get my balls checked and do my physical. That was it. That's all I was doing. So yeah, man, I'm healthy and great. I'm perfectly fine. I shouldn't have any type of questioning of, 'Well, are you really?' Bitch, I'm telling you I'm not hurt. I don't know what more you want me to say. And that's the thing, man, when it comes to my career, I only have one inury, so to speak, and that was the whole neck thing. That was it. And even then, when I had the neck injury, I still was coming to work. So, I don't want to hear anything about anyone saying I'm injury prone or whatever someone might want to try to drum up in their fu**ing weird head. There's nothing, there's no issue."

When asked about his current AEW contract status, the one-time NWA World Television Champion opted to keep that information private, stating:

"Some things should just be kept to the heart. I see all the time with reports of this person and this person. It's like, 'When am I just going to have something for myself? When can I just have something just for me to know?'"

Other topics covered during this latest interview with Ricky Starks include his pairing with Big Bill, the early days of AEW Collision, tangling with Bryan Danielson, getting to wrestle Sting, being at WWE WrestleMania XL to see Cody Rhodes and Jade Cargill shine, and plenty, plenty more.

You can find our full interview with Ricky below: