WWE legend defends Tony Khan after AEW suddenly pulls Ricky Starks from upcoming show

The AEW status of Ricky Starks continues to be a hot topic within the pro wrestling world. Starks has not been used by the company in months, but recent actions make it clear he is moving forward with his career. There was another controversy this week after Starks was booked and then pulled from a GCW show, and now a WWE Legend is using his expertise to explain things and defend Tony Khan.

Absolute Starks just made a big GCW debut, and leaked backstage details revealed the real story on the gig. The 34-year-old also appeared for other non-AEW promotions lately, fueling rumors and speculation after Khan has kept him out of the ring since March.

Starks' situation is similar to that of Ethan Page. After his last All Elite match in December 2023, a Collision loss to Kenny Omega, Page began this year with a few ROH bookings but reportedly wanted out as far back as February. He was finally free in May, the same month he made a surprise WWE NXT debut. Page became NXT Champion just 40 days later. Heat on AEW picked up after Starks was pulled from his next GCW date.

Matt Hardy is a big supporter of Starks. On the latest episode of his Extreme Life podcast, co-host Jon Alba asked Hardy how he feels about the situation and about not booking a wrestler while they're under contract. Matt reiterated how he can't speak to the reason behind Ricky Starks' ordeal as he doesn't know, adding that he grew to like Starks a lot, and he believes the former FTW Champion has a lot to offer:

"I mean, it can be. In theory, if you signed a contract, you have made this agreement to do that, to do that time, so it is what it is. Now, I'm very different... I could see if someone did not want to be, if I'm the boss, I am not the boss, but if I was the boss, and someone asked me, like, 'Hey, I'm not happy here, I would like to move on, I would like to do this, I'd like to do that...' I get that, and I would probably think a little differently," Matt Hardy said. [From 12:34 to 13:00]

The Sensei of Mattitude continued:

"If someone doesn't want to be here, and I'm paying them to just sit at home, I would probably release people, you know? But I think after the Ethan Page deal, where he asked for his release, and he was granted his release, and then he shows up at NXT, and then he becomes a hit at NXT... I don't think that's going to happen any time in the near future for AEW," Matt Hardy said. [From 13:01 to 13:20]

There's an interesting connection between Ricky Starks and Ethan Page. Ricky returned to the ring at Sunday's WrestlePocalypse event put on by Glory Pro, wrestling Kody Lane to a No Contest in the main event. Lane's A1 Zero Gravity Championship was on the line, and the Alpha-1 Wrestling promotion was founded by Page.

Ricky Starks dismisses arrest rumor

Ricky Starks celebrated one of the biggest wins of his career in 2023 after defeating CM Punk to win the finals of the men's Owen Hart Cup on AEW Collision in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. A supposed Reddit insider later claimed that Starks was arrested in Calgary for a bar fight and that he left the establishment in the back of a police car.

While there was no verification from authorities, the same post claimed this was a big deal that Tony Khan had to personally deal with. However, Ricky Starks himself has now dismissed the rumors. Appearing on Insight with Chris Van Vliet this week, the former FTW Champion said the whole rumor, and the claim that he fought cops, was a total lie and never happened. The New Orleans native said while not true, the rumor made him sound like "a total bada**."

It should be noted that AEW sources never backed up the arrest rumor, with denials from everyone supposedly involved. Ricky Starks also addressed allegations of being a lazy in-ring worker this week.