Tony Khan finally addresses Ricky Starks' mysterious AEW absence and future
AEW President and CEO Tony Khan has finally broken his silence on the obscure absence of Ricky Starks. The 34-year-old has not been on TV for the past two months.
Ricky Starks was last seen on an episode of Collision in March, where he teamed up with Big Bill to take on Top Flight (Dante Martin and Darius Martin) in the AEW World Tag Title Tournament Quarter Final. After losing the match, The Absolute has been absent from TV for obscure reasons, whereas Big Bill is now a part of Chris Jericho's The Learning Tree!
Nevertheless, AEW honcho Tony Khan finally reflected on Ricky's absence from TV. In a recent interview with SHAK Wrestling, the 41-year-old heaped high praise on Starks and added that he would love to have the former AEW World Tag Team Champion involved in the weekly programming again. Khan also heaped praise on the tag team of Ricky Starks and Big Bill.
"I really, 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! 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 five years, and tons of respect for Rico!" Tony Khan. [16:29-18:09]
Tony Khan recalled Ricky Starks' recent match with Sting
Tony Khan also reflected on Sting's last match on Dynamite, where The Icon and Darby Allin won the AEW World Tag Team Championship from Ricky Starks and Big Bill. Khan said that Starks and Big Bill had a great run as World Tag Team Champions and that it culminated in an important match.
"They [Ricky Starks and Big Bill] had a great run, and it culminated in the last televised match of the legendary career of The Icon, Sting. I think it was a huge thing that Ricky and Bill, uh, that their run culminated in such an important match in Phoenix. These are all huge milestones, and Ricky is a huge part of them, and that's just scratching the surface of all the great things Ricky has done here—of all the great matches he's had with so many opponents up and down the card since he arrived here," Khan added. [16:41-17:53]
Tony Khan also recalled how Starks was part of Sting's first match in AEW. The Icon's maiden outing in the Jacksonville-based promotion occurred at Revolution 2021, where he teamed up with Darby Allin to defeat Team Taz (Brian Cage and Ricky Starks) in a Tag Team Street Fight.
Meanwhile, fans are eager to see The Absolute back on TV, and only time will tell what Khan has in store for Ricky regarding his return.
If you use part of the above quotes, please credit 'SHAK Wrestling' and give an H/T to 'Sportskeeda Wrestling' for transcription.