Former AEW champion criticized for "cosplaying" Triple H

A significant portion of the AEW roster grew up as fans during different boom periods of the pro wrestling industry. The top stars of today were inspired by names like Steve Austin, Ric Flair, The Rock, and Triple H, among many others. After an infamous insult in front of the world, one top star is now blasting one of his colleagues as a rip-off of The Game and other wrestling legends.

Ricky Starks won the 2022 Dynamite Dozen Battle Royal to earn a Winter Is Coming match with then-World Champion MJF, who was also putting his Dynamite Diamond Ring up for grabs. After the Battle Royal, a viral promo segment went down between Maxwell Jacob Friedman and Absolute Starks.

MJF accused Starks of copying The Rock, labeling him a "Dollar Store Dwayne" and "The Pebble," but Starks fired back and declared MJF to be "a fifth-rate Roddy Piper" before MJF nailed a low blow kick, and Starks ended up nailing a Spear.

Absolute Starks recently spoke with Chris Van Vliet for Insight, and it was noted how he's had comparisons to a younger Rock throughout his whole career. The former AEW World Tag Team Champion was asked about the aforementioned promo segment with MJF and the viral "Dollar Store Dwayne" line:

"Yeah, and I said he was a rip-off of Roddy Piper. You know what's wild about that... Max says all that stuff about me, yet made a return in a leather cut-off jean jacket. How is it that I am trying to rip-off The Rock, and this guy is... every day he's cosplaying Triple H, he's cosplaying Ric Flair, he's cosplaying Roddy Piper. How is that, isn't that... do you ever find that... interesting?," Ricky Starks said. [From 39:53 to 40:17]

Starks noted that he hasn't really given much thought to comparisons with The Rock. He acknowledged that it's no secret who his favorite wrestler was growing up, but the way he performs is his style, and he can't help the way he looks.

AEW Dynamite Thanksgiving Eve updated lineup

AEW will return to the Wintrust Arena in Chicago for the annual Thanksgiving Eve Dynamite on Wednesday, November 27. The show will feature the fallout from Full Gear.

AEW officials now have four Dynamite matches confirmed including the beginning of the Continental Classic. Below is the updated lineup:

Full Gear fallout, the build to Worlds End
Continental Classic, Gold League: Brody King vs. Darby Allin
Continental Classic, Gold League: Ricochet vs. Claudio Castagnoli
Continental Classic, Blue League: Shelton Benjamin vs. Mark Briscoe
ROH World Championship Match: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii

AEW will also tape Collision matches on Wednesday in Chicago. However, this week's Collision will air on Saturday at 4 pm ET instead of the usual start time. TNT will then air Rampage at 6 pm ET instead of Friday night.