"Bro is holding him hostage," "Let him go already" - Fans react after Tony Khan gives update on absent AEW star

Tony Khan recently provided a major update on the status of an absent AEW star's contract. Fans have now reacted to the comments made by the President of All Elite Wrestling.

Ricky Starks was a promising young prospect when he joined AEW a few years ago. He debuted against Cody Rhodes and since then, has gone on to deliver consistent performances for the promotion. He has been involved in many notable feuds during his stint with the company and also held the FTW Championship and World Tag Team Championship.

However, after losing the tag team title his bookings took a downward turn. Starks hasn't been seen on AEW television for months, which caused many to speculate that he could be leaving for WWE soon, much like Ethan Page. This also made a lot of sense given his closeness to Cody Rhodes and others.

However, Tony Khan confirmed on the AEW All In media call that Ricky Starks was still under contract with AEW and very highly regarded by the promotion.

Since Tony Khan's update on the 34-year-old contract status, fans have taken to social media to give their thoughts on the matter. While most fans felt that Starks was being wasted by the Jacksonville-based promotion, some felt he could light up the main event scene in the company.

You can check out some of the reactions in the screengrabs below:

Fan reactions to Khan's update on Starks. [Photo credit: Screenshots of fan comments on @WrestlePurists X post]

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Konnan urges Tony Khan to fire people if they want to compete with WWE

Ever since AEW first launched in 2019, they have tried to compete with WWE. However, their growth has stalled in the past few years, while WWE started breaking records every week. Over the past few years, All Elite Wrestling has hired several top stars to join their promotion but this has done little to boost their ticket sales.

Speaking on his Keepin' It 100 podcast, Konnan likened the Jacksonville-based promotion to a rudderless ship at present. He noted that somebody needed to clean up the place and set a lot of things right, also urging Tony Khan to fire more people before they could even start competing with the global juggernaut, that is WWE.

“They know they exist, but they are not worried about them. They are like a self-check; they are going to self-destruct themselves, or they got so many issues to resolve before they steer the ship. They are not worried right now. They need somebody to come in there and clean house, reset that place, put some discipline in action... fire all the people they have to fire, you know what I am saying, and start doing business,” Konnan said. [4:29 - 5:05]

You can check out the veteran's comments in the video below:

It will be interesting to see if Tony Khan will make the necessary changes so that AEW can finally compete with WWE.