CM Punk Played Key Role In Rise Of AEW Star

CM Punk worked hard behind the scenes with one AEW star.

In July 2023, Ricky Starks defeated CM Punk in the finals of the Owen Hart Cup to take the crown. While the win was another step up the ladder for Starks it also helped set up a rivalry with Punk that served as one of the lynchpins of AEW Collision during the summer.

This saw Starks challenge Punk for the “Real World Championship” and it seemed they were heading for a rematch at All Out before Punk was fired. This led to Starks facing Bryan Danielson at the event.

While Punk’s time in AEW was controversial, to say the least, Starks feels he benefitted greatly from working with the star.

Ricky Starks Loved Working With CM Punk

During a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Starks recalled his time working with Punk, revealing he was instrumental in how his presentation changed in the early months of AEW Collision.

“It was awesome. Punk was really instrumental in how I was presented. Mind you, I had all these ideas. I had the idea of filming walking into the arena with your bags, like how they do it on WWE. I had gotten that idea from the NBA walk ins when they are showing off their outfits. I wanted to do something like that. I was always pushing for that.

I remember telling Punk that and he was like, ‘I love that idea.’ Then I would show up in the outfits that I always wore. He goes, ‘Love it. That’s incredible.’ I already know what I want to look like. I know who I am and I know where I want to go. I just need the other person to get on board with that. Punk was very instrumental in all of that.

I went out on a promo with a Louis Vuitton bag. Before the promo they were like, ‘What’s in the bag?’ I said, ‘I don’t know.’ ‘Why do you have it?’ ‘I just bought it and I want people to see what I got, and what they don’t.’ He was very instrumental in that.

The whole pyro thing, ‘Why not just have pyro go off for ten minutes?’ I said, ‘Oh, I never thought that. Let’s do it.’ It was great working with him, especially in the Owen Hart, too,”

During the same interview, Ricky Starks took a jab at MJF, accusing the former World Champion of cosplaying Triple H and Roddy Piper. The comments were in relation to the on-screen rivalry between the pair back in late 2022 when MJF branded Starks “Dollar Store Dwayne” on Dynamite.

Starks hasn’t been seen on AEW television since March despite repeatedly stating he’d like to return to work.

H/t to Fightful