Ricky Starks Says Social Media Was Hacked, CM Punk Message Deleted

Ricky Stars is backtracking over some comments he made online that invoked the name of CM Punk.

Earlier on Monday, September 11, 2023, Ricky Starks became one of the few people to show support for the recently-terminated CM Punk.

That appeared to be the message he was trying to convey when he posted the following message on his Instagram account:

“Public flowers for you man @cmpunk. Thank you.”

However, Ricky Starks appears to be claiming that those words weren’t his. In an update that was first reported by Nick Hausman, Starks said that his Instagram account was hacked. He didn’t clarify whether these comments were a result of said hack, merely that his account had been hacked around the time that comment was published.

What happened to CM Punk?

CM Punk experienced a wild and newsworthy final three months in AEW. He returned to the company after an eight-month absence on the debut episode of AEW Collision.

Within weeks, reports began emerging that Collision was created with the goal of separating allegedly opposing factions within AEW, including the CM Punk camp and the Elite.

However, issues continued to emerge as Punk was said to have veto power over whatever happened on collision. That caused him to have issues with people like Ryan Nemeth, Christopher Daniels, and Hangman Page.

Things reached a head at AEW All In when Punk confronted Jack Perry after Perry made an unscripted “real glass” comments that Punk interpreted as open mockery of him.

That confrontation escalating hostilities backstage and even led to Punk confronting AEW owner Tony Khan, who, after an internal investigation was conducted, made the decision to fire CM Punk from the company.