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Chris Jericho Explains Long Term Planning For Ricky Starks Rivalry

By John Canton • Published 27th February 2023
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Chris Jericho is known for having long-term storylines in pro wrestling and that’s been evident in his AEW rivalry with Ricky Starks.

Thanks to his incredible pro wrestling career over the last 30+ years, Chris Jericho has a big hand in what kind of stories he gets to tell as one of the biggest names in All Elite Wrestling. Jericho has had several high-profile feuds with big names in AEW like Jon Moxley, MJF, Bryan Danielson, Orange Cassidy and many others.

When Jericho re-signed with AEW in December 2022 for three more years, his agreement with AEW noted that Jericho will “also increase his responsibilities within AEW, serving as a producer and creative advisor in addition to continuing as a mentor to young talent.”

One of those younger talents with a bright future in AEW is Ricky Starks, who is currently feuding with Chris Jericho and will face Starks in a match at AEW Revolution this coming Sunday, March 5th in San Francisco.

During with Casey Pratt to promote Revolution, Chris Jericho provided plenty of insight about his thinking for the rivalry with Starks.

“When we started the Ricky Starks story at the end of December, the idea was always to make it all the way to Revolution. I like to tell long-term stories, and it makes me laugh sometimes when people bag on me for that. It’s like, ‘Well, what’s the rush?’ If it’s too short of a story, people complain. If it’s too long of a story, people complain.”

“What is too long, as long as there’s a beginning, a middle, and an end? It’s like, well, ‘Titanic’ is too long. ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is too long. Well, both those movies are two of the greatest of all time that won multiple awards and are three hours long, and you got to invest in it. If you want to f**k around on your phone or if you want to go to Chipotle in an hour, don’t watch those movies. I think it’s the same with a Chris Jericho storyline.”

Chris Jericho went on to speak about how he wants to help build Ricky Starks to be a bigger star in AEW.

“So yeah, Ricky Starks is a guy that I thought, ‘Wow, he could really use some long-term storyline stuff, working on his character, figure out who he is as a performer.’ Wrestling-wise, he’s got it. He has a real connection with the crowd that I wanted to really expand upon. So, you know, in the ring’s a different story.”

“Outside of the ring, once again, Ricky Starks, let’s build this guy, let’s build him into a bigger star, and not just with this program, let me show him some tricks. More importantly — you can lead the horse to water, but the horse has to drink it, and once the horse drinks it, he knows, ‘Okay, I can go to this pond, and I can use these tricks.'”

“I think Ricky’s learning that. We had a great segment on Wednesday. I think that he really learned a lot, and I think it’s just been it’s been a great experience and a great story. It’s gonna be a great conclusion, or is it, at Revolution on Sunday.”

H/T Fightful