"I’m gonna be much bigger than whatever the pillar is" - Ricky Starks slams AEW's popular concept
Ricky Starks is arguably the most prominent member of Team Taz and the reigning FTW Champion. He suffered a scary injury in 2021 that set the promising star back a few months, just as he was building up momentum.
Regardless of his time away from the ring, Starks is only 28 years old, and he remains one of the most promising on the roster. Still, he isn't considered to be one of the "Four Pillars of AEW", a group that's considered the future of the company.
During an interview with ComicBook, Ricky Starks slammed the Pillar concept as "self-indulgent."
“To me, the whole pillar talk is hilarious in a sense, because it’s so self-indulgent," said Starks. "It’s nothing that was bestowed upon them. That was just something that came from them. So I usually don’t think about it in that regard. Like, ‘I’m not included in this.’ Who cares? Because to me I’m gonna be much bigger than whatever the pillar is. I’m gonna be much bigger than wrestling, in a sense.”
AEW's Four Pillar concept was initially created by MJF as he cited himself, Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, and Sammy Guevara as the original pillars. CM Punk would eventually turn the concept on him by replacing Friedman with Britt Baker.
Stark's complaint with the concept could be seen as valid, since AEW consists of numerous young stars who aren't considered pillars. The FTW Champion has a bright future; this weekend, he'll have the chance to earn a shot at the TNT Championship at the Revolution event.
Ricky Starks took the opportunity to take a few jabs at two of the "Pillars" during his interview
During the same interview, Ricky Starks continued by questioning why he's left out of the conversation and noting how ridiculous he finds Sammy Guevara and Jungle Boy.
“And so I find it so funny," Starks added. "The conversation is so hilarious because nine times out of 10, ‘Well, don’t forget this and this and this.’ And yeah, don’t forget, y’all. Don’t forget. So I don’t mind it too much. I don’t really try to keep it as a chip on my shoulder, but it is hilarious. I see Jungle Boy’s jumping up on the couch in interviews or Sammy just stepping up on the ledge of something and just his tongue out.” (H/T: WhatCulture)
Do you agree with Starks? What do you think about the "Four Pillars" concept? Sound off below.