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AEW's Ricky Starks has been the FTW World Champion for almost 300 days, having lifted the title off of former Team Taz stablemate Brian Cage.
The unsanctioned title has been on the line seven times throughout Starks' reign, with the likes of former WWE star Swerve Strickland and former ROH World champion Jay Lethal coming after the belt most recently.
The FTW World title is designed to represent the status of an uncrowned world champion. It's a sentiment shared by Starks, who declared himself a main-eventer during a recent interview with Blake Oestriecher of Forbes:
“Even before I was born, I think I was always meant to be a main eventer,” Ricky Starks said. “In any situation, any company, any place anywhere in this world, I’m a main eventer, first and foremost…Within the AEW world, I’m definitely a main eventer. I’ve been doing it for 11 years and really had to maul my way through the independent scene, especially when I wasn’t a big name and when I wasn’t someone that everyone knew of.” (H/T WrestleZone)
Ricky Starks is one of the fastest-rising stars in All Elite Wrestling. At just 28 years old, the FTW Champion owes a lot of his success to Team Taz, led by the ECW legend whom the team is named after.
Team Taz are at war with Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee in AEW
Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs have been at odds with recent AEW arrivals Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland. The ongoing feud has produced three hard-hitting bouts thus far.
The FTW title was on the line when Swerve and Starks clashed, with the champion coming out on top with help from Hobbs. Powerhouse then got his outing against Keith Lee, but would not get the win he desired.
The four-way melee between Team Taz, Swerve and Lee resulted in a tag match, which Starks and Hobbs won thanks to some timely rule-bending.
The duo of Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland have since called for another battle with Hobbs and Starks, with Swerve declaring that Team Taz had merely won the battle and not the war.
