Will Ricky Starks Return to AEW? Tony Khan Breaks Silence on Former Champion's Confusing Absence

Starks previously said he has "no clue" why he hasn't been on AEW TV.

By Liam Crowley

Where is Ricky Starks? The former AEW Tag Team Champion has been absent from AEW programming for over two months now, his former tag team partner in Big Bill linking up with Chris Jericho during his absence. Starks has been a key figure within AEW since answering then-AEW TNT Champion Cody Rhodes's open challenge in Summer 2020, having been put in prominent storylines alongside Team Taz, CM Punk, and FTR. Starks saw his biggest successes last year when he won the Owen Hart Cup Tournament, competed in a critically-acclaimed feud with Bryan Danielson, and won AEW tag gold. Since losing those duos straps, Starks has been MIA.

Tony Khan Responds to Ricky Starks's AEW Absence

RICKY-STARKS-AEW
(Photo: AEW)

All Elite Wrestling's boss opens up about The Absolute One.

Speaking to SHAK Wrestling, AEW President Tony Khan praised Ricky Starks, noting he would "love" to have Starks in AEW storylines again.

"I think Ricky Starks is tremendous. I'd love to get him involved and back in AEW anytime," Khan said. "He's been a huge part of what we've done here for about four out of the five years. Tons of respect for him."

Khan's response begs the question of why. Starks emphasized in a recent interview that he is frustrated by his absence from AEW TV, making clear that he is not hurt.

"I'm not hurt," Starks told WhatCulture. "I have no answers. People ask me all the time, 'Well, why aren't you…?' I don't know. I have no clue. That isn't up to me," Starks continued. "It does suck, obviously, to not be on TV, but the support in people online and people sending me messages is very, very sweet and endearing, and very encouraging, from that standpoint."

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Starks was once positioned as a focal point of AEW Collision back when CM Punk was leading the charge and the Saturday show had a soft brand split from AEW Dynamite. Since Punk's firing in September, a move that cost Starks an AEW All Out main event match against the Second City Saint, AEW Collision's individual identity has faded, as it now operates as more of an extension of AEW's flagship Wednesday show.

"I wish that I was on Dynamite. I wish I was on Dynasty. I wish I was on these things," Starks continued. "I think at a certain point, just for my own sanity, I can't go too crazy about it because the proof is in my work and my effort that I've constantly given. I've constantly given 1000 percent effort. At a certain point, it's not in my control. I think that's the biggest lesson I have. Things are just not in my control, but the things that are, I try the hardest."

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