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A former AEW champion has revealed that Tony Khan had no issues with his decision to attend WrestleMania XL earlier this year. The star has been absent from TV for months.
The name in question is Ricky Starks. He has been away from AEW TV since March 2024. The former AEW World Tag Team Champion has been rumored to join WWE as soon as his contract expires. Amid his absence, Starks was reportedly present at WrestleMania XL in April 2024.
Ricky Starks recently opened up on his WrestleMania XL visit. He disclosed that other AEW personalities such as Dustin Rhodes, QT Marshall, and Aaron Solo accompanied him for the show. In a chat with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, The Absolute also revealed that Tony Khan had no issue with his visit.
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"You know who else was in the box with me? [CVV: Dustin] Yeah, who else? QT Marshall, Aaron Solo, this is not me putting them on blast but just saying there were people in the box. There was footage of me celebrating, right? There was no issue about that, there was no issue at all, only because before I had went, Tony [Khan] already said, 'Hey it's okay,' so, there was no issue. Now if he actually didn't mean that? Okay, I don't know that's different. But there was no issue about that and I still to this day don't see a problem with that." [13:47-14:32]
Starks further stated that he was a fan of the business and would support people he loved regardless of where he worked. The 34-year-old also disclosed that he was at WrestleMania 39 and watched Cody Rhodes lose.
Tony Khan on Ricky Starks competing outside AEW
Amid his absence from AEW TV, Ricky Starks competed at a recent Glory Pro Wrestling event. During the 2024 Full Gear post-show media scrum, Tony Khan was asked about Starks competing on the indies amid his absence from the company's programming. Khan replied:
"I'm very excited about having our stars participate in other promotions. Kenny Omega will be competing for Wrestle Dynasty. (...) That's gonna be a great show, we're very excited about it. We have a lot of really cool things coming in January. Kenny Omega and Ricky Starks both been great champions here in AEW."
As of now, fans will seemingly have to wait before potentially seeing Ricky Starks back on AEW TV.
