Ricky Starks Hypes Up His Owen Hart Cup Finals Match With CM Punk

By Connor Casey

AEW's Owen Hart Cup Tournament will conclude this Saturday on AEW Collision, as the finals of the two brackets will see CM Punk vs. Ricky Starks and Willow Nightingale vs. Ruby Soho. The men's bracket could prove to be momentous for the future of AEW's Saturday night show, as it'll either continue Punk's undefeated run in singles competition since his return to AEW TV or it'll give Starks the biggest win of his AEW career and his first big accomplishment since holding the FTW Championship. Starks discussed the match with Sportsnet's The Big Show this week. 

"I'm pretty stoked, honestly. I'm no stranger to having these types of big opportunities, especially in AEW, and I feel like every time I've gotten each opportunity, I've knocked it out the park," Starks said (h/t Cageside Seats). "So I don't think this will be any different. And of course, it's CM Punk, the biggest name in professional wrestling right now. And what better way to show what I have against that guy, you know?"

"To me, I am shoulder-to-shoulder with CM Punk in my head. We are equals," he later added. "One thing that I do want to get across to Punk and everyone else is that, regardless of what has been done in someone's career, and what has been done in AEW, the fact will remain is that I am a person that can stand on my own. I can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with anyone. I can go toe-to-toe with any single person [on the] microphone, in the ring. And I feel like I've proven that with MJF and I've proven that with Chris Jericho. So I don't see this being any different with CM Punk.

Has CM Punk's Backstage Drama Ended?

You may have noticed that, other than the reaction to his show-opening promo during the AEW Collision premiere, there haven't been any reports of backstage drama involving CM Punk. According to Wade Keller via PWTorch, there are a couple of reasons for that.

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"The word from backstage at Collision is that he is taking seriously that this is 'his show' and he's taking pride in putting his stamp on the on-air product and off-air vibe in the locker room. Our sources don't necessarily reflect the views of everyone in the back and some may have different experiences that are less positive, but overall the vibe appears to be moving in the right direction after some tension in his first week back related to his early dig at The Young Bucks," Keller recently wrote.  "There has been no such 'insider digs' in his promos since his first week back alluding to the issues he had with The Elite and others in the past."

"Tony Khan has assembled the Collision roster strategically to remove people who had conflicts with Punk from being around him on Saturday nights and that appears to be paying off," he added.

AEW Collision Card (July 15, 2023)

  • AEW World Tag Team Championships: FTR vs. Jay White & Juice Robinson (Two Out Of Three Falls)
  • Owen Hart Cup Finals: CM Punk vs. Ricky Starks
  • Owen Hart Cup Finals: Ruby Soho vs. Athena/Willow Nightingale

AEW Battle of the Belts VII Card (July 15, 2023)

  • TNT Championship: Luchasaurus vs. Shawn Spears
  • AEW Women's World Championship: Toni Storm vs. Taya Valkyrie
  • AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy vs. Lance Archer

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