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As AEW prepares for its final “OG 4” Pay-Per-View of the year, Full Gear, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the eyes of the professional wrestling world, at least for a moment, turned their eyes a few miles northeast to East Rutherford, where, in a venue incredibly called the American Dream Mall, long absent Ricky Starks made his triumphant return to major independent professional wrestling.
Yes, he already appeared for House of Glory, and technically, he hasn't wrestled a match since May, but after riding down the escalator just like Lex Luger back in the day, the former AEW Tag Team Champion cut a promo for the crowd in attendance, including taking more than a few shots at his current employer for trying to “freeze out” his professional wrestling career.
Ricky Starks voicing his frustrations over in GCW:
“One thing about me—passion runs through my blood and I will be damned if I sit at home and I get frozen out. I’ll be damned if I sit at home and let my career dwindle.”#GCWDream #AEW #AEWFullGear
pic.twitter.com/VrpnG2qQub— 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐕𝐞𝐧 (@WrestlingCovers) November 23, 2024
Ricky Starks is returning to the ring whether AEW likes it or not
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Taking a microphone to cut a promo during GCW Dream On, Starks boldly declared that he isn't being held back any longer, as he's not going to let his career “dwindle‘ because Tony Khan and AEW Creative have nothing for him.
“I think everybody wants a statement from old Ricky Starks, right? Well, the statement is I'm standing right here in the middle of a GCW ring, and I've got a lot of things I want to get off of my chest. But I want to say first and most importantly, d**N it feels good to be right here back in New Jersey. There was a time when I beat a certain ‘Straight Edge Superstar,' and I won the Owen Hart Tournament and I came out here and talked to every single one of you. And before that, I sat in the back biting my nails because I didn't think anybody would really accept ‘Absolute' Ricky Starks. And man, did you prove me wrong,” Starks told the New Jersey crowd.
“And you proved me wrong one more time when I came down the escalator. One thing about me: passion runs through my blood and I will be d**ned if I sit at home and I get frozen out. I'll be d**ned if I sit at home and I let my career dwindle. I am 34 years old. I'm healthy. I'm godd**n good-looking. And most importantly, I am a generational superstar! I am in control every step of the way; I do what I want, I say what I want, I dress how I want. And if you don't like that? You can kiss my black a**. One thing that is important about me is I am going to come back where I came from in the very beginning and why not start in one of the hottest promotions right now, GCW?”
Oh snap, did Starks cut that promo in New Jersey, of all places, to hint at a return to AEW – returning where he came from in the very beginning – or to steal their spotlight in order to get himself over? Well, considering AEW has to approve indie bookings for wrestlers on their payroll, it's safe to assume TK and company are on board with whatever Starks is doing, but what is that goal? A return to AEW, or some personal promotion ahead of his contract expiring and a potential move to WWE? Well, considering wrestlers like Penta El Zero Meido and Rey Fenix are taking indie dates while their AEW contracts wait to expire, it really could go either way.
