Ricky Starks on how his AEW debut against Cody came together
AEW wrestler Ricky Starks has revealed some previously unknown details about how his TNT Championship match debut at Cody on AEW Dynamite came to be.
Ricky Starks made his announced AEW debut on the June 17, 2020 episode of AEW Dynamite. Starks unsuccessfully challenged Cody for the AEW TNT Championship in Cody's open challenge defense of the title.
During a recent appearance on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Ricky Starks revealed that he initially thought his AEW appearance would be a one off:
"And then afterwards, the whole NWA situation happened, and I left and didn't know what was going on, and I remember watching AEW Dynamite where that challenge was put out there and then the following tweet which clarified this was open to anyone, and I promise to you, promise to God that I was watching that and I was like, 'oh my God, this is how I get in. This is how things start to go.' I'll never forget. The next day, I was at the gym and mid-set, I could get the image of me coming out, challenging for the title. I was visualizing all this. I was cutting this promo on them, and then we had this great match and that was the end of it." (h/t Wrestling Inc.)
"I want to say that following Monday, I got a text and they were like, 'hey, would you want to come in and challenge Cody for the title?' And I said, 'absolutely. Absolutely, I would love to,' and then literally within the day or two, I got a flight info and the hotel info. And I was on my way, and in my head this was just a one-off. So I had a plan for it. I was like, 'alright, I'll do this match. Then I'll just up my price on the indies. Then just keep that momentum building until I get to whatever next thing maybe for me." (h/t Wrestling Inc.)
Ricky Starks on crying when he received his AEW contract offer
Despite not defeating Cody for the TNT Championship in his AEW debut, many fans were quick to praise the performance of Ricky Starks on Dynamite.
Ricky Starks revealed that Cody was ecstatic with how the match went. Starks also revealed that he broke down into tears when he was offered an AEW contract by AEW President Tony Khan. The former NWA Television Champion stated that he felt like all of the hard work he had put into his career for 10 years felt validated:
"We have the match, and it's history from there. I remember coming to the back, and I wasn't sure how the reception was just because, one, that was the first time I've ever wrestled with no crowd with those types of stakes, I just remember coming to the back, and everything was very pleasant. It's like good job, but for some reason, I couldn't find Cody, and I think he had walked off her somewhere, but he came back. He was just like, oh, so good. Thank you.' I was like, 'oh s--t.' I wasn't used to that type of reaction from people afterwards. I'm always like, 'oh, good stuff,' and we go about our day." (h/t Wrestling Inc.)
"That night, I went into the the after party and hung out, and then I went home thinking that was it. Then the following week, Tony contacted me. It was pretty much a wrap from there. I remember him telling me like, 'we want to offer you something.' I just started crying because that is about 10 years of hard work that I've done, just me. I've never had anyone help me out. I'm was never any type of clique or anything like that. I've literally had to do things on my own and that was a big culmination of that, and it felt good to finally be proud of myself no less of working towards something and getting to a certain point." (h/t Wrestling Inc.)
What are your thoughts on Ricky Starks' AEW career so far? How far do you think Ricky Starks can go in AEW?