Tony Khan Addresses Ricky Starks’ AEW Absence

AEW

Tony Khan has publicly addressed Ricky Starks’ ongoing absence from AEW TV in a recent interview.

After being a constant fixture on AEW TV for much of the last four years, ‘Absolute’ Ricky Starks has found himself sat on the sidelines for the majority of 2024 – last competing in a tag team match on the March 30 edition of AEW Collision.

Naturally fans have questioned why this is happening, and if recent comments from Starks are any indication – so is he.

So, what did Tony Khan have to say on the matter when asked during a recent interview with CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri?

While Khan did not delve into why Starks has been out of action for so long, he did say that he’d love to get him back on TV soon, as well as highlighting Starks’ importance to the company over the years.

Khan said:

“I really like Ricky Starks a lot. The last time we saw him here was in the World Tag Team Championship tournament. He and Big Bill formed a great team, and they were the World Tag Team Champions. They had a great run and it culminated in the last televised match of the legendary career of the Icon, Sting.

“I think it’s a huge thing that their run, Ricky and Bill, that their run culminated in such an important match in Phoenix, defending the World Tag Team Championship against one of Ricky’s greatest rivals ever in AEW, Darby Allin. And somebody else, Sting, when you think back, was part of Sting’s first match back in pro wrestling in many, many years and that began a journey that went from Revolution ’21 to Revolution ’24, a three-year journey.

“We talked about five years of AEW. To me, the most special part might have been that three-year run of Sting. What we were able to do, give him what I think is the greatest sendoff in wrestling. Ricky was a huge part of that, Sting’s first match and last televised match, and Sting’s last title win.

“These are all huge milestones and Ricky is a huge part of them. And that’s only scratching the surface of all the great things that Ricky’s done here and all of the great matches he’s had with so many opponents up and down the card since he arrived here.

“I think Ricky Starks is tremendous, I’d love to get him involved and back in AEW anytime. He’s been a huge part of what we’ve done here for about four out of the five years, and tons of respect for Rico.”

WrestleTalk will continue to provide updates on Starks’ status as/when they become available.

For more AEW news follow this link here.

Transcript via WrestleZone

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• absence
• tony khan
• ricky starks
• AEW

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