Why Ricky Starks Wasn’t Mentioned By Name In WWE

Ricky Starks has brought his revolution to WWE but there could be a reason that it was only the fans that mentioned his name on his debut.

Ricky Starks tumultuous time in AEW finally came to an end months after the star had been seen on the company’s TV shows. AEW pulled Ricky Starks off GCW shows after derogatory remarks made towards Tony Khan by one of GCW’s featured stars, Effy.

But now the drama is over. Ricky Starks was released by AEW alongside two other wantaway stars in Malakai Black and Miro. While the future of the two European stars remains unknown, Starks has made his plans known.

On the February 11 edition of NXT, Ricky Starks made his shock WWE debut appearing in the crowd as the fans went wild. Chanting his name, Starks noted that they knew who he was but neither he nor WWE commentators mentioned his name. And that might have been on purpose.

Ricky Starks Set For Name Change?

Fightful Select has reported that not mentioning the former AEW Tag Team Champion by name wasn’t an accident. Although there has been no explanation why that would be the case.

That has caused many fans to suspect that WWE might be looking to change Starks’ name in the company. Shawn Spears and Ethan Page kept their names when they joined WWE from AEW, despite Spears previously being known as Tye Dillinger in WWE.

Brian Pillman Jr became Lexis King when he joined WWE and the company simplified Penta’s name, shortening it from the official Penta El Zero Miedo title that he had used in AEW.