Ricky Starks has been a fan favorite in AEW for years now; since initially earning himself an AEW contract after wrestling Cody Rhodes in his first open challenge as TNT Champion, the “Starkman” has consistently found ways to elevate any segment he's in, from his run in Team Taz, to his micro-feud with Brian Cage, and even his compelling run towards the AEW World Championship that included winning the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament and then the Dynamite Diamond Ring 2022 Battle Royal. Is Starks going to be the man who unseats MJF so early in his “Reign of Terror,” or will he just become the first notch in what's looking to be an expansive championship run?

Either way, Starks isn't taking this opportunity for granted, as he's going all-in on a chance to become a part of the AEW main event picture. After spending meticulous time preparing for his big confrontation with MJF on Dynamite, including writing out his promo and memorizing it, “Stroke Daddy” decided to cut into the current champ from the heart, as he detailed to Liam Crowley of ComicBook.com.

“I think you'll hear a lot of wrestlers say, ‘Oh, I didn't think of it. I didn't plan it out, I didn't write it out.' And Cody [Rhodes] makes the same joke, but that's bull,” Starks said. “Even the best promos had to have some type of structure to them. And I am somewhat in the same way, admittedly. I'm not one to really pull back the curtain on anything here, but yesterday, earlier in the day, I had wrote out this whole thing, and in my head memorized it and did all this, and stressed myself out, and then had a match to do. Anything could have gone wrong where I just forget it in the match.”

“I remember Max cutting that promo and saying these comments, and in that moment I was like, ‘I'll just wing it. I'll just wing it. I know where I want to go and what I want to get to, and I'll just fill in the blanks. So what you saw out there was me winging it. That's how I operate. Yes, I can come up with some lines and think about it, but for the most part, whatever I feel, I just say, and it comes off in that moment.”

Is Starks excited about the reception he's received from AEW fans, who have celebrated his promo online?

“I'm not a stranger to this type of reception to a promo I've done,” Starks added. “Earlier in the year, after I lost the title to Hook, I had a similar promo. The common theme between all that is it's just me really speaking from the heart in every single instance.”

Can Starks build up the sort of organic support from fans that makes Khan feel as though he's a worthy successor to MJF a la The Acclaimed, and Jamie Hayter? Only time will tell, but Starks has run with every other opportunity he's been afforded, what makes this one any different?

Freddie Prinze Jr. talks AEW's brightest mind.

Speaking of MJF, Freddie Prinze Jr. recently sat down with Chris Van Vliet on Insight to discuss just how special of a talent AEW's current World Champion is, with his ability to work up storylines that not only put him over but put everyone over as a major reason why he's “second to none.”

“I've been saying this for a long time, man,” Prinze Jr. said. “I've gotten to know Maxwell over the last two years. Every time he comes to LA, we make it a point to go to dinner, and I try to take him to like a different sushi spot every time, right? This kid is 26 years old, so I can say kid, and he has the single most brilliant mind in the wrestling business. Every storyline that he's come up with, man, I shouldn't even say that. Listen, the ideas in this kid's head at getting multiple people over, not just himself, but focusing on what's best for the business, not what's best for MJF, is second to none.”

While some may quibble with Prinze's assertion there, as MJF's quasi-presidential campaign was polarizing at the time, to say the least, it's hard to argue that MJF doesn't have that certain star factor that is rare to see in a performer who is just one year older than Dominik Mysterio.

“I'm not the most experienced and educated wrestling cat in the world, but I did work for the WWE,” Prinze Jr. said. “I did ask a million questions to the Pat Patterson's of the world, to The Freebirds’ of the world, to the Arn Anderson's, the Dean Malenko’s, all these old school people. Everything they taught me this dude has in spades; it is unreal how his mind works. He does not go into business for himself. That's like such a cliche thing to say now ever since that CM Punk explosion at AEW. But for real, like, that's the best way to say it, I love this kid, I texted him the night he won. Don't get mad at me for saying this. He wrote back ‘We did it.’ Not meaning he and I, meaning him and everyone, all I wrote back was ‘Damn right you did.’ Because I wanted him to know like, brother, this was you and it's awesome that you're trying to get as many people over, as many people over as humanly possible. But you did this, like otherwise at 26, it does not happen. So I just hate complimenting a heel. But man he's just, he's so great at it. I love this guy so much. He's so good for the business on both sides. Like not even working for WWE, I feel he helps WWE as well.”

MJF is good for WWE too? Does Prinze mean that in a sort of “high tide raises all ships” sort of way, or is he referring to the “Bidding War of 2024?” Either way, MJF is undoubtedly one of the best wrestlers in the business right now, and if he draws more eyes to the product because of his larger-than-life personality, out-the-ring activities, or his social media antics, then that's good for business.