"When Undertaker was wrestling" - Popular AEW star wants to perform at renowned WrestleMania venue
AEW star Ricky Starks has opened up about performing for All Elite Wrestling in front of his hometown of New Orleans, and how he would like to follow in The Undertaker's footsteps and wrestle at the Superdome in Louisiana.
The Caesar Superdome (formerly the Mercedes-Benz Superdome) was home to both WrestleMania 30 and 34 in 2014 and 2018. Both shows included several historic moments, such as Daniel Bryan winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and Brock Lesnar defeating long-time rival Roman Reigns.
Both featured significant moments in The Undertaker's career as well, with his legendary streak ending in 2014 and his quick dispatch of John Cena in 2018.
AEW's Ricky Starks happened to be in attendance at WrestleMania 34, and he told the FITAID podcast that wrestling in the Superdome is the next step in his career:
"The next step is to wrestle at the Superdome. That's the next goal. I was able to see WrestleMania at the Superdome when Taker was wrestling Cena and I said, 'I'll be here wrestling one day.'" (H/T: Fightful)
Performing in front of his hometown isn't easy for Starks, as he also recalled feeling extremely down after losing in front of his family at an AEW Dynamite event in April 2022 in New Orleans:
"I visit a lot. I visit a lot when I feel there is bad stuff happening to me. I visit that because it's my guard. I sat in that shower for 20 minutes, let the water drip on me and burn my skin. I was tearful because, who would have thought? Who would have guessed it?" (H/T: Fightful)
#WrestleMania 30 took place 8 years ago and we saw one of the most shocking moment in #WWE history.
#Undertaker #BrockLesnar #WWERaw
@BrockLesnar @undertaker @HeymanHustle https://t.co/NBEpLszMMR
Ricky Starks was lucky enough to spend time with The Undertaker early in his career
The Deadman is clearly an influence on a large number of wrestlers in the modern era, with AEW's Ricky Starks being one of them. However, not many people get to spend time with the Hall of Famer.
During one of his first interviews after joining the AEW roster, Starks was a guest on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, where he detailed what it was like to pick the brains of The Undertaker mere days before he was scheduled to be in the crowd at WrestleMania 34:
"A lot of people don’t realize I get a lot of my ideologies and the way I do things in the ring from Taker. That experience was so cool to have because who else can get that? We sat on a couch together and he reviewed my match from one of the local independents. Then a few years later, he needed to get prepared to wrestle Cena and we went in for 2 days straight and I did nothing but heat drills on him." (H/T: WrestlingNews.co)
Learned on the latest episode of #AEWUnrestricted that Ricky Starks favorite wrestler growing up was The Undertaker and they actually are buddies irl
#AEWonTNT #AEWDynamite https://t.co/NujTSt1MXl
Will Ricky Starks ever rise to the height and fame of The Undertaker in the wrestling business? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below!