Ricky Starks Says He’s Ready For Rivalry With Chris Jericho
Ricky Starks recently came up short in his quest to become the new AEW World Champion, but it appears as if Chris Jericho has a problem with Starks after words were exchanged on Dynamite.
It has been an interesting year for AEW rising star Ricky Starks, who broke free from the Team Taz group, became a likable babyface, and beat his former ally Powerhouse Hobbs to end their rivalry. Since then, Starks has been on a major role by winning the World Title Tournament and a battle royal to compete for the Dynamite Diamond Ring.
On the “Winter is Coming” episode of AEW Dynamite on December 14th, Starks got his shot against the AEW World Champion MJF with the title and Dynamite Diamond Ring on the line. While Starks came close to winning the match, MJF found a way to get the victory after using a low blow leading to the pinfall win.
Despite that loss, Ricky Starks was looking ahead on last week’s Dynamite when Chris Jericho and friends interrupted Starks with an invitation to join the Jericho Appreciation Society. Starks immediately turned that down. Starks challenged Jericho to a match on January 4th while Jericho’s group attacked Starks, which led to newcomer Action Andretti saving Starks.
In an interview with Casual Conversations, Starks talked about his current AEW run.
“I did have a little bit of an issue where…iron sharpens iron at the end of the day. I don’t care about, ‘Oh, you put on a banger of a match with so and so,’ that’s cool and all, but baby, I’m trying to learn. I’m trying to progress. I don’t want to be the same Ricky that I was last week. I want to be a more improved version of myself.”
“I was disappointed that, in my whole two years in AEW, I only had a match with Sting, and even then, that was a bit of a slow burn. I was disappointed that I didn’t get the chance to wrestle (CM) Punk because, in my head, as you saw with the promo with Max, I can stand, shoulder to shoulder with these people.”
As he continued, Ricky Starks spoke about how he’s been wrestling for over a decade, so he’s ready for a guy a former eight-time World Champion like Chris Jericho.
In Max’s situation, I can stand over him. Now that Jericho has stepped into the fray, I’m ready. I’m not scared, I’m not nervous. As you can see on Dynamite, I took it to Jericho and I had no problems with that because I’m so confident in myself at this point. I’ve been doing it since 2011, I should know exactly who I am and what I’m about. The progression I’m about to go through, in such a short span, is going to be wild.”