At this point, CM Punk is sort of “persona non grata” in AEW. Yes, the man known as “The Best in the World” did provide one of the biggest pops in the promotion's history when he debuted on Rampage at the United Center in Chicago, worked some great matches, was the promotion's fifth World Champion, and even added a true signature moment to his already impressive resume when he came out at Revolution 2022 to his old Ring of Honor theme, “Miseria Cantare” by AFI, to face off against MJF, but he's on the outs with The Elite, on the outs with Chris Jericho, and disliked by a number of other in-ring performers who haven't spoken out on his antics publically to boot too.
However, just because AEW likely won't host Punk for any more matches unless things really get smoothed out in a big way doesn't mean there aren't still big-time fans of the “Straight Edge Superstar” in AEW's locker room. Need proof? Just ask Ricky Starks, who, after cutting a star-making promo on MJF after winning the AEW Dynamite Diamond Ring Battle Royal, took an interview with DAZN to discuss the moment when Punk called him and the rest of Team Taz out roughly one year ago and how it helped his career.
“The Punk thing helped,” said Starks h/t Fightful. “Him saying those things about me really helped. What would have been great was to actually have a match with him. Things were kind of leading up to that, I thought; that's one of the minor things that I'm actually annoyed about is that I never actually got to have a match. It's not to stroke my own ego, but it's about iron really sharpening iron. I'm the type of person who would be able to benefit from that, in terms of excelling in my talent. At the time where Hobbs turned on me, I think we were already there [crowd reacting favorably and momentum], and it was already a rolling boiling. Things had to have happened in that sense. Otherwise, to go another six or eight months and really just floating in limbo would not have been very beneficial to me, I don't think.”
“I would hope so, I really do,” Punk said. “I thought Punk, (William) Regal, these people that came in were great additions to the locker room. Great additions in terms of what they provided. I know, personally, I was able to talk to Punk a lot and get help on my promos and things like that. Same with Regal, because I've known him for so long. It was kind of a blow that both of these guys left. I am hopeful that down the line I do get that matchup. If not, I get it, that's how the business is, but it would be nice. It would be nice to be able to work with somebody of that caliber because I've yet to work with, besides Sting, I've yet to work with somebody of such a high caliber, and the Sting match was a year or two ago.”
Assuming Punk returns to AEW, he will unquestionably be a heel due to the shoot nature of his in-ring exit. Fortunately, Starks is rapidly becoming one of the promotion's top babyfaces and as a result, could be in for a program with “The Best in the World” down the line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DR55w9ZkQs&feature=youtu.be
Konnan compared Ricky Starks favorably to CM Punk for his AEW promo.
Speaking of Starks' big-time promo versus MJF, one wrestling OG who liked the mic work a lot was none other than Konnan, the booker for The Crush and long-time manager of various LAX factions across multiple promotions, as he detailed on his podcast Keepin' It 100 as transcribed by Sportskeeda.
“That was a great promo by MJF, very scathing. You can tell that they're shooting on each other… Ricky Starks is probably the first guy that has really gone toe-to-toe with MJF and probably had a better promo than him. That was the promo of his life, you could tell he'd been saving that for a while and it was great. The people turned on MJF, which is good because he's a heel. They're in the Stark's [side], really good.”
Pretty impressive stuff, right? Well, Rey Mysterio's former WCW tag team partner took things a step forward, declaring that “Stroke Daddy's” promo was better than anything Punk did on the mic during his pre-Revolution feud with the current AEW World Champion.
“I didn't like the shot to the b*lls, it looked very weak,” Konnan said. “They should do a Mexican style rear back and just kick the sh*t and sell the f*ck out of it, they could have gotten a lot more out of that, but other than that this was a star-making segment for Ricky Starks, 'cause nobody has been able to get close, not even Punk, not anybody, to MJF on the mic. So we're going to see some good fireworks coming up.”
Could “Starkman” use this feud to elevate his standing to a degree a match with Punk would have one year ago? Only time will tell, but after winning two-straight multi-man efforts, the Dynamite Diamond Ring Battle Royal, and the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament, 2023 is shaping up to be the “Year of Ricky Starks.”
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